How to Buy a Gun in Indiana: Dealers, Private Sales, and Checks

To buy a gun in Indiana, you show a valid government-issued photo ID at a licensed dealer, fill out ATF Form 4473, and pass a federal background check through NICS. Indiana requires no permit to purchase, imposes no waiting period, and keeps no state firearm registry. If NICS returns a “proceed,” you leave with the firearm that same visit. Private sales between Indiana residents involve no state paperwork and no background check at all. The rules that actually shape your purchase are federal ones about who can buy, how old you have to be, and where the transaction happens.

Who Is Eligible to Buy

Federal law sets the eligibility rules, and Indiana does not add its own list of prohibited purchasers on top. You cannot legally buy or possess a firearm if you are:

Convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison (most felonies, regardless of the sentence actually served)
A fugitive from justice
An unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance
Adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution
Illegally or unlawfully in the United States
Dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces
A former U.S. citizen who has renounced citizenship
Subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders
Convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence

These categories come straight from federal statute and apply in every state.¹

Age depends on the firearm and the seller. From a licensed dealer, you must be 21 to buy a handgun and 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun.¹ In a private sale between Indiana residents, the minimum age for a handgun transfer is 18 under both federal and state law.

Buying From a Licensed Dealer

The steps at every Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) in Indiana — a gun shop, sporting goods store, or pawn shop — are the same.

Bring the Right ID

You need a valid government-issued photo ID showing your name, date of birth, and current residential address. An Indiana driver’s license or state ID card is the usual document. A P.O. Box will not work as an address. Federal law generally restricts unlicensed buyers to purchasing in their home state, so the dealer uses your ID to confirm Indiana residency.² If your ID doesn’t show your current address, expect the dealer to ask for a supplemental government document.

Complete Form 4473

ATF Form 4473 collects your identifying information and asks a series of yes-or-no questions about your eligibility. Lying on this form is a federal crime.³ Question 21a asks whether you are the actual buyer, which matters for straw purchases (more on that below).

Pass the NICS Check

The dealer contacts the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which searches federal and state databases. NICS returns one of three answers: proceed, delayed, or denied. A “proceed” means the sale finishes immediately, and because Indiana has no waiting period, you take the firearm home that day.⁴

A “delayed” response means the FBI needs more time. Under the Brady Act, if the FBI has not issued a denial within three business days, the dealer may legally proceed with the transfer, though nothing forces the dealer to do so and some choose to wait for a final answer.⁴

Extra Review for Buyers Under 21

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act added a step for buyers under 21. If the NICS search flags a potentially disqualifying juvenile record, the FBI gets up to 10 business days to investigate before the dealer can transfer the firearm.⁵ If nothing is flagged in the initial three business days, the sale moves on the normal schedule.¹

Buying From a Private Seller

Indiana does not require a background check for private firearm sales between residents. No NICS check, no state paperwork, no FFL involvement. This covers private-party sales at gun shows, classified ads, and transactions between friends or family.

Federal law still makes it a crime to sell or transfer a firearm to anyone you know or have reasonable cause to believe is prohibited from possessing one.⁶ Practically, many private sellers ask to see a driver’s license to confirm age and Indiana residency, and some write up a bill of sale documenting the buyer, seller, firearm description, and date. Nothing in state law requires the bill of sale, but it is the only record either party will have if the firearm later shows up in an investigation.

Buying From an Out-of-State Dealer

Federal rules are stricter here. For handguns, an out-of-state dealer cannot sell directly to you. The firearm must be shipped to a licensed dealer in Indiana, who then runs the background check and completes the transfer as if you were buying from them. That Indiana FFL typically charges a transfer fee, commonly in the $25 to $50 range.¹

Rifles and shotguns are looser. You can buy one from a licensed dealer in another state as long as you meet the seller in person and the sale complies with the laws of both states.¹ Private interstate sales of any firearm should go through an FFL to stay within federal law.

Two narrow exceptions exist: you can receive a firearm from an out-of-state person through inheritance, and you can temporarily borrow or rent a firearm at an out-of-state range for lawful sporting purposes.

If Your Background Check Is Denied or Delayed

NICS denials are not always correct. Mistaken identity, outdated records, and data-entry errors account for a meaningful share of them, and you have the right to challenge one.

The preferred route is electronic, through the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services portal at edo.cjis.gov. You’ll need the NICS Transaction Number (NTN) or State Transaction Number (STN) from the denied check; the dealer can provide it. You identify what you believe is inaccurate and can upload fingerprints and supporting documents. Fingerprints are not required, but they help the FBI distinguish you from someone with a similar name or date of birth and are strongly recommended.⁷

Mailed challenges go to the FBI CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Either way, the FBI has 60 calendar days to respond with a final determination: sustained, overturned, or still unresolved.⁷

If you keep getting delayed rather than denied, the FBI’s Voluntary Appeal File (VAF) can help. Once approved, you receive a Unique Personal Identification Number (UPIN) to enter on future Form 4473 submissions. The UPIN helps NICS match your identity accurately and can head off the recurring delays caused by name similarities. Applying takes a completed VAF application and a copy of your fingerprints, submitted online at edo.cjis.gov or by mail.⁸

Don’t Make a Straw Purchase

A straw purchase is when you buy a firearm on behalf of someone else, usually because that person can’t pass a background check or wants no paper trail. Federal law treats this seriously: up to 15 years in prison, or 25 years if the firearm was intended for use in a felony, terrorism, or drug trafficking.⁹

Buying a firearm as a genuine gift for someone legally allowed to own one is fine. Buying a gun because someone asked you to buy it for them, so they don’t have to run a check, is a straw purchase even when that person isn’t actually prohibited. Question 21a on Form 4473 asks directly whether you are the actual buyer, and answering falsely is itself a federal offense.

After You Buy: Registration, Carry, and Off-Limits Places

Indiana does not require firearms to be registered, and there is no state registry.

Since July 1, 2022, Indiana has allowed permitless carry. Any person at least 18 who is not otherwise prohibited under state or federal law can carry a handgun openly or concealed without a state-issued license.¹⁰ The state still offers an optional license to carry, which helps with reciprocity when traveling to states that recognize Indiana permits but don’t have their own permitless carry.

Permitless carry is not unlimited carry. Indiana bans firearms in several locations regardless of whether you hold a license:

Schools and school property, including buildings on the same grounds as a licensed daycare (with a narrow exception for religious services held in a house of worship on school property)
Commercial and charter aircraft
Secured areas of airports past the security checkpoint
Riverboat gambling operations
The State Fairgrounds during the annual state fair (firearms must be locked, unloaded, and out of sight in your vehicle)
Port areas and port property
The Indiana Government Center
Penal institutions
Children’s homes or child caring institutions overseen by Child Welfare Services

Indiana has no statewide bans on carrying in parks, hospitals, places of worship, bars and restaurants, sports arenas, or polling places, though private property owners can prohibit firearms on their own property.¹¹

If You Have a Prior Conviction

A felony conviction strips your firearm rights under both federal and Indiana law, but a successful expungement in Indiana can restore them. Indiana’s expungement statutes provide that a person whose conviction is expunged “shall be treated as if the person had never been convicted of the offense,” and the Indiana Attorney General has concluded that this restores a person’s status as a “proper person” eligible to purchase and possess firearms under state law.¹²

Not every conviction is eligible. Indiana bars expungement for homicide offenses, sex crimes, human trafficking, official misconduct, offenses requiring sex offender registration, felonies resulting in death, and certain repeat offenses involving deadly weapons. Expungement of a domestic violence conviction does not restore firearm rights: the legislature carved out that exception explicitly, and federal law independently prohibits firearm possession after a domestic violence conviction regardless of state-level expungement.¹²

Even where Indiana law restores your rights, federal law may still prohibit possession. Federal firearms disability for felony convictions is a separate legal question, and state expungement doesn’t always satisfy the federal standard. Talk to an attorney before purchasing after any felony conviction to confirm your eligibility under both systems.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
2
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Open Letter to All Federal Firearms Licensees
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Transaction Record
4
Federal Bureau of Investigation. About NICS
5
Federal Bureau of Investigation. NICS Enhanced Background Checks for Under-21 Gun Buyers Showing Results
6
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
7
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Challenges / Appeals – Requesting Reason for and/or Challenging a NICS-Related Denial
8
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Voluntary Appeal File
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms
10
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-47-2-3 – License Requirement, Application, Procedure
11
Indiana Office of the Attorney General. Gun Owners’ Bill of Rights
12
Indiana General Assembly. Official Opinion No. 2024-1