How to Fill Out and Submit the Nevada CCW Permit Application

To get a Nevada CCW permit application through to approval, you complete a state-approved firearms safety course, fill out the application for the sheriff of the county where you live, appear in person to be fingerprinted and photographed, pay a $99 fee at most counties, and wait up to 120 days for the background investigation to clear. The permit, once issued, is good for five years.¹

Confirm You Are Eligible Before You Spend a Dollar

Nevada is a shall-issue state. If you meet every requirement in NRS 202.3657, the sheriff must grant the permit. If you fall into any disqualifying category, the sheriff must deny it, and the $99 fee is not refundable.²

You must be at least 21. Active-duty military, reservists, National Guard members, and honorably discharged veterans can apply at 18. You must also be legally allowed to possess a handgun under Nevada and federal law.²

The sheriff is required to deny the application if any of the following is true:

A felony conviction in any state or under federal law.
A conviction for domestic violence or stalking, including misdemeanor domestic battery, or a current restraining or protection order against domestic violence.
Any conviction in the past three years for a misdemeanor involving the use or threatened use of force.
A judicial declaration of incompetence or insanity, or any admission to a mental health facility in the past five years.
Habitual use of alcohol or controlled substances to the extent that normal faculties are impaired. Nevada presumes this is met by a single DUI conviction under NRS 484C.110 or completion of a substance abuse treatment program within the past five years.
An outstanding arrest warrant anywhere.
Current parole or probation from any jurisdiction.
An emergency or extended high-risk behavior order under NRS 33.570 or 33.580.
A false statement on any prior CCW application or renewal.²

Pay attention to the DUI rule. A single DUI conviction in the preceding five years is enough to trigger the presumption of habitual impairment and support a denial, not two.²

A separate federal and state bar applies to anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery against a spouse, partner, parent, or child under NRS 202.360, which permanently prohibits firearm possession and therefore any carry permit.³ Fugitives, unlawful users of controlled substances, and anyone adjudicated mentally ill are also prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law.

Take the Required Firearms Course First

You cannot submit an application without a valid training certificate, so this is the first thing to arrange. The course has to meet the standards set by the Nevada Sheriffs’ and Chiefs’ Association, and it has to include a written exam and a live-fire qualification with a handgun. You need at least 70 percent on each.⁴

The certificate only needs to state that you qualified with a handgun. No specific make, model, or caliber has to appear on it, so you do not have to decide which gun you will eventually carry before you take the class.⁵ The certificate is valid for one year from the date of completion, so don’t take the course too far ahead of your sheriff’s office appointment.⁴

The instructor also has to be qualified under the NvSCA standards. Most advertise their certification; if you aren’t sure, your county sheriff’s office can confirm whether an instructor is approved.

Gather Your Documents and Fill Out the Form

Most sheriff’s offices post the application as a downloadable PDF. LVMPD puts theirs on the concealed firearm permits page of its website, and you can also pick one up in person. Fill it out ahead of time, but do not sign it. The signature has to be witnessed by sheriff’s office staff at your appointment.⁶

The form asks for your full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, physical description, and a ten-year residential history. If you have moved around, pull your addresses together in advance so you aren’t guessing at the counter. The eligibility questions are yes-or-no and track the disqualifiers listed above. Answer them honestly. The background check will surface anything you try to hide, and a false answer is itself grounds for mandatory denial.²

Bring the following with you:

A valid Nevada driver’s license or state ID with your current address. LVMPD specifies a DMV-issued ID, Real ID, or driver’s license.⁶
Your original firearms training certificate, dated within the past year.
If you were born outside the United States or a U.S. territory, an original (not a photocopy) of your U.S. passport, naturalization certificate, permanent resident alien registration card, certificate of birth abroad, visa, employment authorization card, or I-94 paired with a Nevada hunting license.⁶

Apply in Person at Your County Sheriff’s Office

You have to file the application in person, at the sheriff’s office in the county where you live.⁷ Clark County residents go through LVMPD’s Records and Fingerprint Bureau at 400 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., Building C, Las Vegas, NV 89106, which takes walk-ins and also offers an online application portal.⁶ Smaller counties like Humboldt have you pay and schedule an appointment through their online portal before you arrive. Call ahead if you aren’t sure how your county handles it.

At the appointment, staff will photograph you (that picture is printed on the permit card), take a full set of fingerprints, and witness your signature on the application. Your prints go to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History, which forwards them to the FBI for a criminal history report.¹

What You Will Pay

The total fee is $99 at most Nevada counties and is not refundable, approved or denied. At LVMPD, that is a $60 application fee plus a $39 FBI background check fee.⁸ Washoe County also charges $99, which includes the $39 state fingerprinting fee.⁹ Humboldt and Lyon counties charge the same $99.⁷ Accepted payment methods vary. Some counties take credit cards (sometimes with a surcharge); others accept only money orders or cashier’s checks. Confirm before you go.

The 120-Day Background Investigation

Once your application is filed, NRS 202.366 requires the sheriff to run your fingerprints through both the Central Repository and the FBI, and to query the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Other local law enforcement agencies may add information about your criminal history to the file.¹

The sheriff has 120 days from the receipt of a complete application to grant or deny it. In practice, the FBI report is the slowest piece. Many applicants hear back before the deadline, but plan around the full window.¹

If approved, your permit card arrives in the mail with your photograph on it, valid for five years from the issue date. If denied, the sheriff must send you a written notice with the specific reasons.¹ You can challenge the denial by filing a petition for judicial review in the district court for the county where you live.¹⁰ If the denial rests on a records error, assemble the documents that correct the record before you file the petition.

Places the Permit Does Not Cover

A Nevada CCW does not authorize you to carry everywhere. Under NRS 202.3673, even permit holders cannot carry concealed in:

Any public building on the property of a public airport.
Any public building on the property of a public school, child care facility, or Nevada System of Higher Education campus, unless you have specific written permission.
Any public building with a metal detector at each public entrance or a posted sign at each entrance stating that firearms are prohibited. Judges in their own courthouses, prosecutors, building employees, and anyone with written permission from the person controlling the building are exceptions.¹¹

Federal facilities are governed separately. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, knowingly bringing a firearm into a building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work is a federal crime carrying up to one year in prison, or up to five years if you intended to use the gun in a crime. Federal courthouses carry up to two years. Your Nevada permit does not change this. Post offices, federal courthouses, Social Security offices, and VA buildings are all off-limits.¹²

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 202.366 – Investigation of Applicant for Permit
2
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 202.3657 – Application for Permit
3
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 202.360 – Ownership or Possession of Firearm by Certain Persons Prohibited
4
Churchill County Nevada. Nevada Concealed Handgun Training Standards
5
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Nevada CCW Permit Instructor Packet
6
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Concealed Carry Firearm Permits
7
Humboldt County, NV. CCW Permits
8
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Service Fees
9
Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. Fee Schedule
10
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Administrative Code Chapter 202 – Concealed Firearms
11
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 202 – Crimes Against Public Health and Safety
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities