Tasers are legal in Kansas. Adults can buy, own, and carry a Taser or stun gun without a permit, license, or background check, because the state’s weapons statutes simply do not mention electronic control devices. That silence is the whole answer to the ownership question, but it is not the whole story: once you deploy a Taser, Kansas assault, battery, and self-defense laws govern what happens next, and federal law bars you from carrying one into certain buildings.
Buying and Owning a Taser in Kansas
Kansas regulates weapons mainly through K.S.A. 21-6301 (criminal use of weapons) and K.S.A. 21-6302 (criminal carrying of a weapon). Neither statute lists Tasers, stun guns, or electronic control devices. K.S.A. 21-6301 names specific prohibited items such as metal knuckles, throwing stars, and certain short-barreled firearms, and its restricted-persons provisions deal with firearms.1Justia Law. Kansas Code 21-6301 – Criminal Use of Weapons Because Tasers appear nowhere on any prohibited list, buying or possessing one is lawful for most Kansas residents.
There is no state background check for a Taser purchase. Kansas does not require a background check even for private firearm sales, so none applies to electronic devices either. No Kansas statute sets a minimum age to possess a Taser. Retailers commonly refuse to sell to buyers under 18, but that is a store policy, not a legal rule.
When You Can Legally Use One
Owning a Taser is unregulated; using one is not. Kansas is a stand-your-ground state. Under K.S.A. 21-5222, you may use force against another person when you reasonably believe force is necessary to defend yourself or someone else against that person’s imminent unlawful force, and you have no duty to retreat before using non-deadly force.2Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-5222 – Same; Defense of a Person; No Duty to Retreat
A Taser deployed to stop an attack generally counts as non-deadly force, which requires a lower threshold of justification than lethal force. You need a reasonable belief that the other person is about to use unlawful force against you. If the situation involves a risk of death or great bodily harm, the same statute authorizes deadly force under those circumstances, again with no duty to retreat.
K.S.A. 21-5223 extends these protections to your dwelling, workplace, and occupied vehicle. If someone unlawfully enters or attacks any of those, you can use force to stop them, including deadly force if you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.3Justia Law. Kansas Code 21-5223 – Defense of Dwelling, Place of Work or Occupied Vehicle; No Duty to Retreat Tasing an intruder inside your home is one of the clearer-cut justified uses.
The pivot word in each of these statutes is “reasonably.” A prosecutor or jury gets to decide, after the fact, whether your belief was objectively reasonable. Pulling a Taser during a shouting match where no physical threat exists is unlikely to meet that standard. So is firing one at someone who is walking away from you, because the threat is over at that point.
Criminal Charges for Misuse
If a Taser deployment is not legally justified, the same assault and battery statutes that apply to any other use of force apply here.
Assault and Aggravated Assault
Simple assault under K.S.A. 21-5412 means knowingly placing someone in reasonable fear of immediate bodily harm. Pointing a Taser at a person and threatening to fire it can qualify. Simple assault is a class C person misdemeanor.4Justia Law. Kansas Code 21-5412 – Assault; Aggravated Assault; Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer; Aggravated Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer
Aggravated assault, meaning assault with a deadly weapon, is a severity level 7 person felony. Whether a Taser counts as a deadly weapon depends on the circumstances, and prosecutors have argued it does in cases involving vulnerable victims or repeated shocks. A severity level 7 felony carries a presumptive prison sentence of 11 to 34 months, depending on criminal history.4Justia Law. Kansas Code 21-5412 – Assault; Aggravated Assault; Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer; Aggravated Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer
Battery and Aggravated Battery
Battery under K.S.A. 21-5413 covers knowingly or recklessly causing bodily harm, or making physical contact in a rude or insulting manner. Actually firing a Taser at someone without justification almost certainly qualifies. Simple battery is a class B person misdemeanor.5Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-5413 – Battery; Aggravated Battery; Battery Against Certain Persons; Aggravated Battery Against Certain Persons
Aggravated battery scales up with the harm and the mental state. Knowingly causing bodily harm with a deadly weapon, or in a way that could cause great bodily harm, is a severity level 7 person felony with the same 11 to 34 month presumptive range. Causing great bodily harm or disfigurement is a severity level 4 person felony and carries substantially longer sentences. Recklessly causing harm with a deadly weapon is a severity level 8 person felony, with a presumptive range of 7 to 23 months.5Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-5413 – Battery; Aggravated Battery; Battery Against Certain Persons; Aggravated Battery Against Certain Persons Firing a Taser at someone as a prank can be charged as reckless aggravated battery if the person is injured.
Where You Cannot Take One
State law leaves Taser carry largely alone, but a few places are off limits. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. ยง 930 bars bringing any “dangerous weapon” into a federal building where federal employees regularly work. The statute defines a dangerous weapon broadly as any device capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that stun guns and Tasers qualify.7Department of Homeland Security. FAQ for Prohibited Weapons at Federal Facilities
Penalties for violating the federal rule are serious. Carrying a Taser into a federal building can result in up to one year in federal prison. If the government can show you intended to use it during a crime, the maximum rises to five years. Carrying one into a federal courthouse carries up to two years.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
At the state level, K.S.A. 21-6302 prohibits concealed carrying of items including “any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character” alongside billies and blackjacks. Whether a concealed Taser falls within that catch-all is not settled, because the phrase “of like character” could limit it to bludgeon-type weapons.8Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6302 – Criminal Carrying of a Weapon If a prosecutor applied it to a Taser, the offense would be a class A nonperson misdemeanor. Open carry would not trigger the statute, since it addresses only concealed carry.
Kansas public universities, acting through the Kansas Board of Regents, treat Tasers as prohibited weapons on campus. That is an institutional policy rather than a criminal statute, so a violation can produce disciplinary consequences without necessarily producing criminal charges.
Felons and People on Supervision
Kansas law has a notable gap here. K.S.A. 21-6304, which bars convicted felons from possessing weapons, defines “weapon” as only “a firearm or a knife.” A Taser is neither, so the felon-in-possession statute does not appear to reach it. K.S.A. 21-6301’s restricted-persons provisions likewise focus on firearms, covering groups such as fugitives, undocumented immigrants, and people subject to protective orders only with respect to firearm possession.1Justia Law. Kansas Code 21-6301 – Criminal Use of Weapons
This is not a free pass. A felon who uses a Taser offensively faces the same assault and battery charges as anyone else. Conditions of parole or probation also commonly prohibit possession of any weapon, with the supervising officer defining the term more broadly than the statute does. Violating supervision conditions can send someone back to prison even when no separate criminal charge applies.
Civil Lawsuits Are a Separate Risk
Criminal charges are not the only exposure. The person you Tase can sue you in civil court for damages, including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The civil standard is lower than the criminal one: a plaintiff only needs to show it is more likely than not that you acted wrongfully, while a criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. You can beat the criminal case on self-defense grounds and still lose the civil suit if the jury finds your response was disproportionate to the threat.
Courts weighing these cases look at the specifics: whether you warned the other person before firing, whether that person was actually threatening you, and whether the level of force matched the situation. Injury matters too. Someone who walks away unharmed has a weaker claim than someone who falls, hits their head, or suffers cardiac complications from the shock. Deploying a Taser against someone who is elderly, pregnant, or known to have a heart condition raises your liability exposure considerably.