Tennessee - TN Gun Laws

No state permit is required to purchase a firearm. Buyers must be 21 for a handgun and 18 for a long gun through a licensed dealer, who runs the standard federal NICS background check. No waiting period.

No background check or registration is required for private sales between Tennessee residents.

Standard federal disqualifying categories apply (felony conviction, domestic violence convictions or active protective orders, unlawful drug use, dishonorable discharge, and the rest). Tennessee does not have a standalone state red flag law.

Legal without a permit for anyone 18 or older, covering the same population as Tennessee's permitless concealed carry law. The age floor dropped from 21 (with a narrower 18-20 military/veteran exception) to a flat 18 for all adults following Beeler v. Long and Tennessee's HB 1332 (May 2025).

Permitless since 2021: adults 18 or older without a disqualifying felony conviction may carry a concealed handgun without a license. The age floor was 21, with an exception down to 18 only for qualifying military/veteran status, until Beeler v. Long found that restriction unconstitutional; Tennessee's HB 1332 (May 2025) formally extended permitless carry to all adults 18 and older. Tennessee still issues an optional handgun carry permit for residents who want reciprocity benefits when traveling to other states.

Consistent with the state's permitless carry framework, no separate permit is required to carry in a vehicle beyond the underlying carry authorization.

Standard categories: schools, courthouses, and posted government buildings and private property.

Tennessee's permitless carry age floor is 18, for all adults, not just those with military or veteran status. This changed from a 21-with-military-exception structure following Beeler v. Long (2023) and Tennessee's HB 1332 (May 2025). Dealer purchase age is unaffected by this and remains governed by separate federal law: 21 for a handgun, 18 for a long gun.

None. Tennessee places no limit on magazine capacity and does not ban any category of semi-automatic firearm.

Tennessee has a genuine stand-your-ground statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-611, removing any duty to retreat when you're lawfully present somewhere and not committing a crime. Castle Doctrine creates a presumption of reasonable fear when defensive force is used against someone unlawfully and forcibly entering a residence, business, dwelling, or occupied vehicle, broader than states that limit the doctrine to the home alone.

Governor Bill Lee also signed SB 1847 in May 2026, effective July 1, 2026, which expands the situations in which deadly force can lawfully be used to protect property, on top of the existing stand-your-ground and Castle Doctrine protections.

Strong, under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1314, local municipalities cannot enact firearms laws stricter than state law. A narrow exception preserves local ordinances that were already on the books before April 8, 1986.

- Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Handgun Carry Permits: tn.gov/safety
- Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17 (weapons statutes): law.justia.com/codes/tennessee
- Your local Sheriff's Department or Department of Safety office for optional carry permit applications
- ATF: for federal NFA questions, suppressors fall under the standard federal NFA process with no additional Tennessee-specific restriction