Arizona gun laws let any adult 21 or older who isn’t a prohibited possessor carry a firearm openly or concealed without a permit, allow 18-to-20-year-olds to openly carry, and bar cities and counties from adding their own restrictions on top. The rules below cover who can own and carry, where firearms are off-limits, when you can use force, and what to do during a police stop.
Who Can Legally Own and Carry a Firearm
Arizona bars certain people, called “prohibited possessors,” from having a firearm at all. The category includes anyone convicted of a felony whose firearm rights have not been restored, anyone a court has found mentally incompetent or dangerous to themselves or others, and anyone currently on probation, parole, community supervision, work furlough, or home arrest after a felony or domestic violence conviction.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3101 – Definitions A prohibited possessor caught with a firearm faces a class 4 felony.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions
Age sets the other main line. Unaccompanied minors under 18 generally cannot carry or possess a firearm in public, on streets or highways, or on property their family doesn’t own or lease. Exceptions exist for 14-to-17-year-olds hunting, competing, or practicing at an established range, and for minors accompanied by a parent, grandparent, guardian, or a certified firearms instructor with parental consent.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3111 – Minors Prohibited From Carrying or Possessing Firearms; Exceptions; Seizure and Forfeiture; Penalties; Classification
At 18, you can possess firearms and openly carry them. At 21, you can also carry concealed without a permit. Concealed carry by anyone under 21 is a class 3 misdemeanor.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions
Open Carry and Concealed Carry
Arizona is a constitutional carry state. Any resident or visitor 21 or older who isn’t a prohibited possessor can carry a firearm openly or concealed without any state permit.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions Between 18 and 20, you’re limited to open carry. A firearm counts as openly carried when the weapon, its holster, or a case designed for weapons is at least partially visible.
The Concealed Weapons Permit Is Voluntary
Because adults 21 and over can already carry concealed, Arizona’s concealed weapons permit is optional. People get one mainly for two reasons: more than 35 other states recognize the Arizona permit, so it extends your legal carry when traveling, and permit holders bypass the point-of-sale background check wait when buying from a licensed dealer.4Arizona Department of Public Safety. Concealed Weapons and Permits
The Arizona Department of Public Safety issues the permit. Applicants submit two sets of fingerprints for a state and FBI background check, complete a firearms safety course meeting the competency standards in ARS 13-3112 (courses from other states can qualify), and pay a $60 application fee.5Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3112 – Concealed Weapons; Qualification; Application; Permit to Carry; Civil Penalty; Report; Applicability; Annual Report
Firearms in Your Vehicle
If you’re 21 or older, you can keep a loaded firearm anywhere in your vehicle — glove compartment, center console, under the seat, or on your person — without a permit.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions
Drivers aged 18 to 20 can carry a loaded firearm in a vehicle if the weapon or holster stays at least partially visible from outside. To keep it out of sight, it must be in a case, holster, glove compartment, or similar enclosed storage. Employers can prohibit firearms in company vehicles. When parking on K-12 school property, the firearm must be unloaded, and if you leave the vehicle, it must be locked and out of plain view.
Where Firearms Are Prohibited in Arizona
Constitutional carry doesn’t make every location fair game. Several categories of place remain off-limits or conditional.
Polling Places and Power Stations
Firearms are banned at election polling places on election days and at nuclear or hydroelectric generating stations. The penalties aren’t equivalent: carrying at a polling place is a class 1 misdemeanor, while carrying at a power station is a class 4 felony.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions
Government Buildings and Public Establishments
Public establishments and government buildings that restrict firearms must provide secure, temporary storage at the entrance so you can check your weapon on arrival and retrieve it when you leave.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102.01 – Storage of Deadly Weapons; Definitions Refusing to store or remove your weapon after a reasonable request from the operator can lead to a trespassing charge.
K-12 Schools
Carrying a firearm on K-12 school grounds is a class 1 misdemeanor, unless the possession is tied to certain drug or gang-related activity. The exception is for an unloaded firearm kept inside a locked vehicle controlled by an adult, out of sight from outside the vehicle.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions
Bars and Restaurants That Serve Alcohol
Businesses with an on-sale liquor license may prohibit concealed handguns, but only by posting the specific sign required by ARS 4-229: a firearm pictogram inside a red circle with a diagonal red line, plus the words “no firearms allowed pursuant to A.R.S. section 4-229.” The primary sign must appear in a conspicuous spot next to the posted liquor license, though additional signs can go at entrances.7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 4-229 – Licenses; Handguns; Posting of Notice Where that sign is posted, concealed carry inside is prohibited. The statute gives you an affirmative defense if you genuinely didn’t see the sign — for example, if it had fallen down, or if you’re from out of state and the sign went up within the past 30 days.
Private Property
Any private property owner can bar firearms by giving verbal notice or posting signs. There is no separate weapons-offense statute attached to generic “no weapons” signage outside the liquor-license context, but entering or remaining after being told firearms aren’t allowed can bring trespassing charges.
Parks and Public Lands
You can carry firearms outdoors in Arizona State Parks, though a park ranger can reasonably ask you to remove a firearm if the ranger believes you pose a danger. Carrying inside state park buildings follows the same rules as other public establishments. In national parks, federal law since 2010 has allowed firearms as long as possession complies with the laws of the state the park is in, so Arizona’s constitutional carry rules apply outdoors in national parks here.8National Park Service. Gun Regulations in the National Parks
Self-Defense, Stand Your Ground, and Castle Doctrine
Arizona’s use-of-force laws are broad, and anyone who carries should know where the lines sit.
You can use physical force against someone when a reasonable person in your situation would believe it immediately necessary to protect against that person’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.9Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-404 – Justification; Use of Physical Force Self-defense doesn’t justify force in response to verbal provocation alone, doesn’t apply when you’re resisting a known police arrest, and doesn’t apply when you provoked the confrontation unless you clearly tried to withdraw and the other person kept attacking.
Deadly force is justified when a reasonable person would believe it immediately necessary to protect against another person’s use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force.10Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-405 – Justification; Use of Deadly Physical Force Arizona imposes no duty to retreat before using deadly force, as long as you’re somewhere you may legally be and aren’t engaged in unlawful activity. This is the state’s stand-your-ground rule.
The castle doctrine adds protection at home or in your occupied vehicle. Under ARS 13-418, you can use deadly force against someone unlawfully or forcefully entering (or already inside) your home or occupied vehicle if you reasonably believe you or another person faces imminent death or serious physical injury, with no duty to retreat.11Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-418 – Justification; Use of Force in Defense of Residential Structure or Occupied Vehicles; Definitions The doctrine doesn’t protect you when the other person has a legal right to be there (a co-tenant or family member, unless an active order of protection bars them), when a parent or guardian is removing a child, when the person entering is a law enforcement officer on official duty, or when you’re using the home for unlawful activity.12Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-419 – Justification; Presumptions; Definitions
If You’re Stopped by Police While Armed
Arizona does not require you to volunteer that you’re carrying. But if an officer asks whether you have a concealed deadly weapon, you must answer honestly. Failing to accurately answer that question is itself a weapons offense under ARS 13-3102. The duty applies during any lawful traffic stop, criminal investigation, arrest, or detention based on reasonable suspicion.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons; Defenses; Classification; Definitions During the encounter, an officer may take temporary custody of the firearm as a safety measure and return it when the contact ends.
Buying and Transferring Firearms
At a licensed dealer, you fill out ATF Form 4473 and the dealer runs you through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.13Federal Bureau of Investigation. Firearms Checks (NICS) Arizona adds no state waiting period, so if the check clears, you leave with the firearm. Buyers under 21 may face an extended NICS review of up to 10 business days under the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act if a possible disqualifying juvenile record turns up.14Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record Revisions
Private sales between individuals require no background check, and Arizona keeps no firearm registry or record of private transfers. These sales are legal as long as the seller doesn’t knowingly transfer a weapon to a prohibited possessor. Because private sellers can’t run NICS themselves, routing the sale through a licensed dealer for a small fee is the safest option if there’s any doubt about the buyer.
No State Limits on Magazines, Ammunition, or Local Rules
Arizona places no limits on magazine capacity and no state-level restrictions on specific ammunition types. Federal restrictions, such as those on armor-piercing handgun ammunition, still apply.
Equally important, ARS 13-3108 gives the state legislature exclusive authority over firearm regulation. Cities, towns, and counties cannot pass their own ordinances governing possession, sale, transportation, or use of firearms or ammunition, and any local rule more restrictive than state law is void.15Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3108 – Firearms Regulated by State; State Preemption; Injunction; Civil Penalty; Cause of Action; Violation; Classification; Definition The same rules apply in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, and everywhere in between. Arizona has also not adopted a red flag law or extreme risk protection order, so there is no current mechanism for a court to temporarily confiscate firearms based on a petition alleging someone poses a danger.
Restoring Firearm Rights After a Felony
A felony conviction doesn’t always mean a permanent firearms ban. Arizona courts allow prohibited possessors to petition for restoration of firearm rights, with the waiting period depending on the severity of the original offense. For most felonies, a person can apply after completing all terms of their sentence and supervised release; convictions classified as dangerous or serious offenses carry significantly longer waits. The petition goes to the superior court in the county of conviction.16Arizona Courts. Restore Firearm Rights Possessing a firearm before completing restoration can add new felony charges on top of the original disqualification.