State firearm law
Federal chapter 44 does not occupy the field. State statutes supply rules of their own, unless a federal provision and a state law are in direct and positive conflict.1 This page names the categories those statutes address and links to each state’s official code or legislature. It does not say what any state’s current rule is. A count of states, or a score in a category, would be a factual claim this page has not sourced.
Categories
| Category | What a statute in this category addresses | Federal text beside it |
|---|---|---|
| Who may possess a firearm | A license or permit to possess, or a disqualification beyond the federal list. | 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) lists federal disqualifications. Section 927 leaves state law in place unless it cannot stand with the federal provision.2 |
| Purchase, waiting periods, and unlicensed transfers | A permit to buy, a waiting period, or a background check when the seller is not a federal licensee. | Section 922(t) requires a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to contact the national instant criminal background check system before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person. That subsection does not itself require an unlicensed person to make the contact.3 |
| Carrying in public | Whether and on what conditions a person may carry a firearm in public, including licensing. | In Bruen, the Supreme Court held that New York’s proper-cause requirement for a public-carry license violated the Fourteenth Amendment. The opinion is summarized on the cases page. This table does not classify any other state’s carry statute.4 |
| Places | Locations where a state statute forbids or limits carrying. | The Heller syllabus says the opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings. The list in a given state is in that state’s code.5 |
| Particular weapons and feeding devices | State definitions that regulate features, models, or ammunition feeding devices. | The National Firearms Act uses its own definition of “firearm,” limited to the categories in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a). A state definition is a different text.6 |
| Dealers, sales, and storage | A state dealer license, a rule about how a sale is made, or a rule about storing a firearm. | Section 922(a)(1) requires a federal license to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms. Section 923 is the licensing section.7 |
| Court orders that restrict possession | A state order, including an extreme risk protection order, under which possession is restricted for a period the state statute sets. | Section 922(g)(8) and § 922(g)(9) are federal disqualifications tied to specified orders and misdemeanor convictions. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act allows Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funds to be used for state crisis-intervention programs, including extreme risk protection order programs that include specified due process protections. That provision does not itself enact an order in any state.8 |
| Cities, counties, and ordinances | Whether a state code lets a city or county adopt its own firearm rules, or reserves that subject to the state. | Section 922(b)(2) makes it unlawful for a federal licensee to sell or deliver a firearm where the purchase or possession would violate state law or a published ordinance applicable at the place of sale, delivery, or other disposition, unless the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe it would not.9 |
The right column is the federal statute a reader should have in view. It is not a statement that the state statute is valid, invalid, or identical to the federal rule. Constitutionality is decided in cases, including those on the cases page, and in later decisions this page does not catalogue.
Official state sources
Each link below is a state-maintained code or the legislature’s own site. Where the link is a legislature home page rather than a single code volume, use that site’s statutes or laws entry. The link is a place to read the text. It is not a summary of the text. The District of Columbia is included because its code is the local law at issue in Heller; it is not a state.5 Territorial codes are not listed.
Notes
- 18 U.S.C. § 927. Reading copy checked October 14, 2026: Legal Information Institute. Official Code: Office of the Law Revision Counsel, current through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026), uscode.house.gov. ↩
- 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g), 927. Reading copy: § 922. ↩
- 18 U.S.C. § 922(t). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
- New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), slip opinion. ↩
- Syllabus, District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 571 (2008), U.S. Reports. ↩
- 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
- 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(a)(1), 923. Reading copies: § 922 and § 923. ↩
- 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), (g)(9). Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Pub. L. No. 117-159, § 12003, 136 Stat. 1313 (June 25, 2022), public law (govinfo). ↩
- 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(2). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
- The Mississippi Legislature’s website links to the Mississippi Code at the LexisNexis address in the table, legislature.ms.gov, consulted October 14, 2026. ↩