Nevada Gun Laws

Nevada Gun Forms & Supporting Documentation

• State CCW Info
• Las Vegas CCW Site
• NV Sheriff/Police Dept's
• Application LVMPD
• St. Firearms Statutes
• State Firearms FAQs
• LVMPD FAQ Site
• State Statutes
• State Admin Rules
• State Reciprocity Info Then Click On Permit Recognition
• State Attorney General
• 2nd CCW Info Site
• Age to Carry a Firearm In Other States

Carrying a Firearm

It is illegal to carry concealed on or about the person without obtaining a permit to do so.  Open carry is legal if extreme caution is taken while in public. 

Persons exempt from this regulation include:  sheriffs, constables, marshals, peace officers, police officers, persons giving assistance to law enforcement   making arrests, or preserving the peace, (while in the act of assisting) and U.S. military personnel while on duty.    

A permit to carry concealed firearms shall be issued by the sheriff to any individual who is qualified under state law and:
•       submits an application for a concealed carry permit
•       is 21 years of age or older
•       is not a convicted felon or otherwise prohibited from owning a firearm
•       possesses proof of completion of a certified firearm safety course offered by, any national organization that certifies instructors, a community college, university, federal, state, or local law enforcement agency that includes instruction in the use of each firearm 


An application to carry concealed must be signed under oath by an employee of the sheriff’s department or by a notary public.  Personal information including the applicant’s name, address, date and place of birth, social security number, occupation, and employer must be noted on the application and included with a set of fingerprints that is either taken by the sheriff or his her agent, a color photograph (frontal view), the applicant’s driver’s license or ID card number (sheriff department issue) and the caliber, make, and model of the semiautomatic firearm.  A permit for a revolver shall cover all revolvers owned by an applicant.  A permit shall be granted or denied by the sheriff within 120 days of application.  A written explanation shall be sent to any applicant who is denied a permit.  A petition may be filed with the district court for the county in which the applicant resides seeking judicial review. A determination of whether the denial was arbitrary or capricious shall be made.

A permit shall be valid for a period of five years.  The fee is non-refundable and not to exceed $60.00.  The permit shall be carried with the concealed firearm, along with the proper identification.  A permittee must notify the sheriff within 30 days of changing residence, or if the permit is lost, stolen or has been destroyed.  

The renewal fee for a permit is $25.00 and shall accompany the renewal application, which must be signed under oath and contain a statement that the applicant is eligible to receive a permit, and is competent with a firearm.  A permit may be revoked or denied if the sheriff determines that the applicant has an outstanding warrant for his/her arrest, has been declared insane or mentally incompetent by a judge, has been admitted either voluntarily or involuntarily to a mental health facility in the previous five years, or has been a habitual abuser of alcohol or a controlled substance to the point of impairment within the previous five years, or has had a suspended sentence or judgment withheld for a felony conviction within the past five years, or has been convicted of a misdemeanor offense within the past three years involving the use of force, or violence, (or a threat thereof), has been convicted of stalking or a domestic violence offense, or is currently under an order of protection; and is on parole or probation at present.  A permit to carry concealed may be revoked or denied by the sheriff if he/she receives personal knowledge through a sworn affidavit from an individual 18 years or older about offenses or involvement in activity that would preclude him/her from eligibility to carry a concealed firearm.  The sheriff shall revoke or suspend a current permit or any applicant under process if he/she has been notified by a law enforcement agency that the applicant has been charged with a crime involving the use of violence, or a threat to use violence, until such case is decided.  The sheriff shall restore the permit if the applicant is acquitted or if the charges are dropped.  In this case, no fee shall be imposed.

No permittee may carry a concealed firearm on the grounds of a public building located at a public airport, a public school, or property of the Nevada System of Higher Education, (unless prior permission has been granted), or a public building with a conspicuous sign posted at each entrance prohibiting firearms in the building, or a building that has a metal detector at each entrance. A public building shall refer to any building occupied by the Nevada System of Higher Education and is in use for such, or any public building used by a city, state, county, federal, school district or other political subdivision.  For buildings only partially occupied by government entities, the restriction shall apply only to those portions of the building in use.  It is illegal to carry a loaded shotgun or rifle within a vehicle, while traveling on any public highway. A firearm shall be considered loaded when an unexpended cartridge/shell is in the firing chamber, but not (if only in the magazine).  The interpretation of Nevada State law allows for a person to carry a firearm in a vehicle if it is not actually on his/her person, or carried by him/her in a container. 

Machine Guns

It is legal to possess, sell, or purchase a lawfully registered silencer or machine gun that is possessed in compliance with federal laws and regulations that govern such firearms.  It shall be illegal to manufacture, possess, or dispose of a rifle that has a barrel less than 16 inches long or a shotgun that has a barrel less than 18 inches long, or a rifle less than 26 inches in overall length.  Exemptions apply for peace officers, importers licensed by the U.S. Department of Treasury, manufacturers, bona fide collectors, and dealers of firearms.

Range Protection

If a shooting range is compliant with provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances, and regulations with regards to noise, the range shall not constitute a nuisance.

NEV. REV. STAT. § 40. 140. Nuisance defined; action for abatement and damages; exceptions

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section:

(a) Anything, which is injurious to health, or indecent and offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property;

(b) A building or place used for the purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, using or giving away a controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog;

(c) A building or place which was used for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog and:

(1) Which has not been deemed safe for habitation by the board of health; or

(2) From which all materials or substances involving the controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog have not been removed or remediated by an entity certified or licensed to do so within 180 days after the building or place is no longer used for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog; or

(d) A building or place regularly and continuously used by the members of a criminal gang to engage in, or facilitate the commission of, crimes by the criminal gang,

is a nuisance, and the subject of an action. The action may be brought by any person whose property is injuriously affected, or whose personal enjoyment is lessened by the nuisance, and by the judgment the nuisance may be enjoined or abated, as well as damages recovered.

2. It is presumed:

(a) That an agricultural activity conducted on farmland, consistent with good agricultural practice and established before surrounding nonagricultural activities is reasonable. Such activity does not constitute a nuisance unless the activity has a substantial adverse effect on the public health or safety.

(b) That an agricultural activity, which does not violate a federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation, constitutes good agricultural practice.

3. A shooting range does not constitute a nuisance with respect to any noise attributable to the shooting range if the shooting range is in compliance with the provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning noise:

(a) As those provisions existed on October 1, 1997, for a shooting range in operation on or before October 1, 1997; or

(b) As those provisions exist on the date that the shooting range begins operation, for a shooting range that begins operation after October 1, 1997.

A shooting range is not subject to any state or local law related to the control of noise that is adopted or amended after the date set forth in paragraph (a) or (b), as applicable, and does not constitute a nuisance for failure to comply with any such law.

4. As used in this section:

(a) “Board of health” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 439.4797.

(b) “Controlled substance analog” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 453.043.

(c) “Criminal gang” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 193.168.

(d) “Immediate precursor” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 453. 086.

(e) “Shooting range” means an area designed and used for archery or sport shooting, including, but not limited to, sport shooting that involves the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, black powder or other similar items. 

Nevada Concealed Carry Reciprocity

Some states who have similar or equivalent gun permits honor each other’s issued licenses. This is what you call reciprocity. When two states have reciprocity with each other, you can use your resident permit issued by your home state as an alternative to the gun permit issued by the state you visit.

Miscellaneous

It is illegal to set a “spring gun” or “trap gun”.   It is illegal to discharge any firearm at a structure, residence, vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft.  It is further illegal to obliterate, alter, or remove any manufacturer’s serial number, or mark of identification on a firearm.  It is assumed that the possessor of such a firearm committed the crime of removing the serial number.  It is illegal to hunt from any motor vehicle including a snowmobile, aircraft, or helicopter.  Individuals who are paraplegic may hunt from a vehicle that is stopped, but is not parked on a portion of highway that is travelled.  No firearm may be discharged across, from, or upon any state or federal highway, main road, general county road, or in any public location where another person may be harmed.  It is illegal to manufacture or sell any metal penetrating ammunition for a handgun.  It is solely the right of the state to regulate the transfer, possession, registration, and licensing of firearms and ammunition.  Only the state of Nevada may bring a lawsuit against a firearms manufacturer, or distributor of firearms and ammunition, or a trade association involved with such for damages, abatement, or injunctive relief resulting from the lawful marketing, sale, design, or manufacture of a firearm or ammunition to the public.  No action may be taken by any person against a firearms manufacturer or distributor purely based on the fact that the firearm is capable of causing serious injury, damage, or death.