Nevada - NV Gun Laws

No state permit or license is required to buy a rifle, shotgun, or handgun from a licensed dealer in Nevada. Dealer purchases run through the standard federal NICS background check (Form 4473), with federal age minimums of 18 for a long gun and 21 for a handgun. There's no state waiting period beyond the standard NICS process.

Nevada's Background Check Act (effective January 2, 2020, codified at NRS 202.254) requires private-party firearm transfers to go through a licensed dealer, who runs a federal background check. Transfers to immediate or extended family members — spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews — are exempt, along with certain temporary loans and law-enforcement transfers.

Nevada follows the standard federal prohibited-persons categories: felony conviction, certain domestic violence convictions or active protective orders, unlawful drug users, individuals adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, fugitives from justice, dishonorable military discharge, undocumented immigration status, and renunciation of U.S. citizenship. Applicants for a Nevada Concealed Firearm Permit also undergo a state-level mental-health assessment as part of the permitting process.

Legal without a permit for anyone who can otherwise legally possess a firearm.

Requires a Concealed Firearm Permit (CFP), issued shall-issue by the county sheriff to anyone 21 or older who completes a state-approved training course, fingerprinting, a federal NICS check, and a state mental-health assessment. Nevada has not adopted permitless carry — a CFP is genuinely required to carry concealed — but the issuing standard leaves sheriffs no real discretion once an applicant meets the requirements.

A valid CFP is required to carry a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Open carry in a vehicle by someone eligible to possess a firearm is generally treated the same as open carry on foot. The main additional restrictions are the same sensitive-location and stricter-penalty rules that apply anywhere else (see Restricted Locations).

Nevada's restricted-location list includes K-12 schools, courthouses, and certain government buildings, with enhanced penalties for violations under the state's 2026 statutory revisions. Federal restrictions still apply regardless of state law — federal buildings and other federal property remain off-limits under federal statute.

Nevada does not set a comprehensive statewide minimum age for possessing a firearm beyond the federal purchase-age framework (18 for long guns, 21 for handguns through a dealer, matching Nevada's own CFP age floor). Supervised possession and use by minors below these ages — for hunting, target shooting, or firearms safety instruction under adult supervision — is common practice and not separately restricted by a dedicated state age-floor statute.

None. Nevada has no magazine capacity limit and no assault weapons ban, and state preemption law blocks any city or county from creating one locally.

Nevada added a Stand Your Ground law in 2011 — no duty to retreat before using deadly force in defense of oneself or another, provided the person is not the initial aggressor, is not committing a crime, and is in a place they have a legal right to be.

Nevada has strong state preemption over most firearm laws — local governments cannot enact ordinances stricter than state law regulating ownership, possession, or carry, though cities and counties retain authority to regulate the discharge of firearms.

Nevada Department of Public Safety, firearms resources: dps.nv.gov
Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 202 (full text): leg.state.nv.us
Your county Sheriff's Office: for Concealed Firearm Permit applications
ATF: for federal NFA questions — Nevada does not add state-level restrictions on suppressors beyond federal requirements