Missouri Gun Carry Laws: Permitless Carry, Restrictions, and Penalties

Missouri gun carry laws let anyone at least 19 years old who can legally possess a firearm carry it openly or concealed without a state permit. That has been the rule since January 1, 2017. You do not need government approval to carry, but you do need to stay out of a specific list of restricted locations, respect posted private property, and know that some cities regulate open carry for people without a permit. An optional concealed carry permit still exists, and it matters most if you travel to other states.

Who Can Carry in Missouri

The minimum age for permitless carry is 19. Active-duty military and honorably discharged veterans can carry at 18.¹

Beyond age, you have to be someone the law allows to possess a firearm at all. Missouri bars possession by anyone convicted of a felony, anyone who is a fugitive from justice, anyone habitually intoxicated or drugged, and anyone currently adjudged mentally incompetent.²

Federal law adds more categories under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g): people subject to a domestic violence restraining order, people convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, people adjudicated as a mental defective, unlawful users of a controlled substance, and illegal aliens, among others.³ Both sets of rules apply at the same time. Clearing Missouri’s list does not clear a federal bar.

Open Carry vs. Concealed Carry

Concealed carry is legal statewide for eligible adults without a permit. The state framework treats it as the default: RSMo 571.030 makes carrying concealed a crime only in the locations restricted by RSMo 571.107, and everywhere else it is not an offense for someone who may lawfully possess a firearm.¹

Open carry is also legal statewide, but with a wrinkle. RSMo 21.750 lets cities and counties pass ordinances regulating open carry within their borders. Where a local ban is on the books, it does not apply to anyone holding a valid concealed carry permit from Missouri or a state Missouri recognizes. A permit holder openly carrying in one of those cities must have the permit on them and show it to an officer on request.⁴

Practically, that matters in places like Kansas City and St. Louis. Without a permit, openly carrying there can bring a local citation. With a permit, state law shields you from local restrictions on both open and concealed carry.

Places You Cannot Carry

Permit or no permit, RSMo 571.107 keeps concealed firearms out of a fixed list of locations:

Any police, sheriff, or highway patrol office or station.
Any adult or juvenile jail, prison, or correctional institution.
Any courthouse or court facility.
Within 25 feet of a polling place on election day.
Any meeting of a local governing body or of the General Assembly or its committees.
The portion of an establishment licensed to serve alcohol for on-premises consumption that is primarily devoted to that purpose, unless the owner or manager consents. Restaurants that seat at least 50 people and earn more than 51 percent of gross income from food sales are exempt from this restriction.
Any church or other place of religious worship, unless the minister or controlling religious authority consents.
Any school, including elementary, secondary, and higher education facilities.
Child care facilities and amusement parks.
Locations restricted by federal law, including airports past security and federal buildings.

⁵

One useful carve-out applies at every restricted location on that list: a firearm locked in your vehicle on the premises is not a criminal offense, as long as the firearm stays in the vehicle and is not brandished.⁶

Private Property and Posted Signs

Any property owner or business can ban concealed firearms by posting a sign. To have legal effect, the sign must be displayed conspicuously, measure at least 11 inches by 14 inches, and use lettering at least one inch tall.⁶

Carrying past a properly posted sign is not itself a criminal act for a permit holder. Staff can ask you to leave. If you refuse, you can be cited for trespass-style refusal. As with restricted government locations, keeping a firearm in your vehicle on the property is still allowed.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

For a valid permit holder, walking a concealed firearm into a 571.107 restricted area is not criminal. You will be asked to leave. Refuse, and a first citation runs up to $100. A second citation within six months rises to $200 and triggers a one-year permit suspension. A third within one year of the first: up to $500, permit revocation, and a three-year ban on getting a new one.⁵

Without a permit, the calculus changes. Carrying concealed into a restricted area falls under the general unlawful use of weapons statute, RSMo 571.030, as a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.¹

A person barred from possession under RSMo 571.070 who is found with a firearm faces a Class C felony carrying up to seven years and a $10,000 fine. If that person has a prior dangerous felony conviction or a prior unlawful firearm possession conviction, the charge becomes a Class B felony with a maximum of 15 years.²

Self-Defense and Stand Your Ground

Missouri is a stand-your-ground state. RSMo 563.031 imposes no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense anywhere you have a legal right to be, including your home, your property, and your vehicle.⁷

Deadly force is justified when you reasonably believe it necessary to prevent death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony. It is also justified against someone unlawfully entering or attempting to enter your home, occupied vehicle, or property you own or lease. The castle doctrine presumption does not apply if you were the initial aggressor or were committing a crime at the time.⁷

Carrying a firearm and using one are separate legal questions. Reasonableness is the standard courts apply after the fact.

What to Do During a Police Stop

Missouri does not require you to volunteer that you are armed during a traffic stop or other encounter. You must disclose only if the officer asks. Many carriers still tell the officer at the start of a stop as a practical matter.

If you are openly carrying in a city with an open-carry ordinance, an officer can ask to see your concealed carry permit, and you must have it on you and show it on request. An officer cannot disarm or physically restrain you without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or an arrest.⁴

Why Get a Permit If You Don’t Need One

Missouri’s permitless carry right stops at the state line. The Missouri Attorney General reports that Missouri recognizes concealed carry permits from every state that issues them, and roughly 37 states recognize a Missouri permit in return.⁸ If you drive into Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, or elsewhere, a Missouri permit is what lets you keep carrying legally.

A permit also puts you outside local open carry ordinances, gives you a recognized credential to hand an officer, and downgrades an accidental slip into a restricted area from a possible felony into a civil citation.

Getting a Missouri Concealed Carry Permit

Applicants have to complete an approved firearms safety course of at least eight hours taught by a qualified instructor. The course must cover handgun safety and Missouri’s laws on justifiable use of force, and it must include a live-fire exercise of at least 20 rounds fired from a standing position at a target seven yards away.⁹

Bring the following to your county sheriff’s office:

Your signed course completion certificate.
A valid Missouri driver’s license or state ID.
The completed application, which asks for your current address, social security number, physical descriptors, and a 10-year residency history.
The application fee, up to $100, set by each sheriff but capped by state law.

Staff will take your fingerprints for state and federal background checks. You must not have been adjudicated mentally incompetent or committed to a mental health facility within the preceding five years, and you must certify you were not dishonorably discharged from the military.¹⁰ The sheriff has 45 days to issue or deny. A standard permit is valid for five years.

Renewal of the standard permit runs up to $50. Late renewals carry a $10-per-month penalty; a lapse beyond six months forces you to apply again at the full initial fee. Missouri also sells 10-year, 25-year, and lifetime permits, but those extended options are valid only inside Missouri and do not carry the reciprocity that makes the five-year permit useful across state lines.¹⁰

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.030 – Unlawful Use of Weapons, Offense of – Exceptions – Violation, Penalties
2
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.070 – Possession of Firearm Unlawful for Certain Persons – Penalty – Exception
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
4
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 21.750 – Political Subdivisions May Not Regulate Firearms
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.107 – Permit Does Not Authorize Concealed Firearms, Where – Penalty for Violation
6
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.215 – Permit Authorizes Carrying on Person or in Vehicle, Prohibited Areas, Penalty for Violation
7
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 563.031 – Use of Force in Defense of Persons
8
Attorney General Office of Missouri. Concealed Carry Reciprocity
9
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.111 – Firearms Training Requirements – Safety Instructor Requirements – Penalty for Violations
10
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.205 – Issuance of Lifetime or Extended Permit, Requirements