Vermont Gun Laws: Buying, Carrying, and Storage

Vermont gun laws let any adult who can legally possess a firearm carry it openly or concealed without a permit, but that permissive baseline sits alongside a growing set of restrictions: a 21-and-over purchase age, universal background checks, a 72-hour waiting period, magazine capacity caps, secure storage liability, a ban on unserialized “ghost guns,” and a red flag law. Knowing where each line falls matters, because violations range from misdemeanor fines to five years in prison.

Who Can Buy and Possess a Firearm

The general rule is 21. A seller who transfers any firearm to someone under 21 faces up to a year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.¹

Three groups can buy before 21: active or veteran members of the U.S. Armed Forces, members of the National Guard, and anyone who has completed a Vermont hunter safety course or an equivalent course from another state or Canadian province approved by the Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife.¹

Age is only one filter. Anyone convicted of a “violent crime” is barred from possessing any firearm in Vermont, and possession after such a conviction carries up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The “violent crime” definition reaches further than the label suggests. It covers most offenses on Vermont’s “listed crime” roster, including domestic assault and stalking, and also picks up certain drug-trafficking convictions and offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children. Out-of-state convictions count when the offense would prohibit firearm possession under federal law.²

Vermont does not have its own statute prohibiting firearm possession based on mental health adjudication or involuntary commitment, though the federal prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4) still applies. A court issuing a domestic violence protective order also has discretion to require the respondent to surrender firearms while the order is in effect.

Buying for a prohibited person is treated as one of the most serious firearm crimes in the state. A straw purchase, meaning a purchase on behalf of someone you know is prohibited from possessing a firearm or someone who intends to use it in a felony, carries up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both. The prohibition covers indirect purchases too, where the buyer plans to hand the gun to a middle person who will pass it to a prohibited possessor. A buyer who acted under threats or coercion has an affirmative defense.³

Background Checks and the 72-Hour Waiting Period

Every private firearm transfer in Vermont has to run through a licensed dealer. The dealer submits the buyer’s information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and both parties must appear in person at the dealer’s premises with the firearm. Skipping this step is punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $500, or both.⁴

Immediate family transfers are exempt. The statute defines the term broadly, reaching spouses, parents, stepparents, children, stepchildren, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, and their step-equivalents. Transfers to or from law enforcement, and emergency transfers to prevent imminent harm, are also exempt.⁴

A separate 72-hour waiting period took effect on July 1, 2023. Even after NICS returns an approval number, the buyer cannot take possession for 72 hours. If NICS has not responded within seven business days, the transfer may proceed anyway. Whichever event comes first controls. Completing a transfer before the waiting period ends carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $500, or both. Transfers exempt from the background check, including family transfers, are also exempt from the waiting period.⁵

Magazine Limits, Bump Stocks, and Ghost Guns

Since April 11, 2018, Vermont has banned the manufacture, possession, transfer, sale, purchase, and importation of large-capacity magazines: more than 10 rounds for a long gun, more than 15 for a handgun. Violation carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $500, or both. Magazines lawfully possessed before the effective date can be kept, but they cannot be transferred, sold, or given away.⁶

Bump-fire stocks have been illegal in Vermont since October 1, 2018. The statute defines a bump-fire stock as a butt stock designed to attach to a semiautomatic firearm and use recoil energy to increase the firing rate to that of a fully automatic weapon. Possession is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.⁷

The Vermont Ghost Guns Act took effect in early 2025. It prohibits possession or transfer of any firearm, frame, or receiver without a serial number, and it reaches unfinished frames and receivers that can be readily completed into a working firearm. Anyone who already had an unserialized firearm was required to have it serialized by a licensed dealer, whose imprint has to meet federal standards for depth and permanence.⁸

Secure Storage and Owner Liability

Vermont holds owners responsible when a child or prohibited person gets to an unsecured firearm and does harm with it. If that person uses the gun to commit a crime or displays it in a threatening way, the owner faces up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If the access results in death or serious bodily injury, the maximums rise to five years and $5,000.⁹

Several defenses exist. The gun was in a locked container or fitted with a tamper-resistant safety device. The child or prohibited person got in through an illegal entry. The gun was used lawfully in self-defense. Or the firearm was close enough that the owner could readily retrieve it.⁹

One thing Vermont law does not require: reporting a lost or stolen firearm. No statute sets a timeframe or a penalty for failing to report a missing gun.

Carrying in Public Without a Permit

Vermont is a constitutional carry state. If you can legally possess a firearm, you can carry it openly or concealed. There is no application, no training requirement, and no fee.⁷

Because Vermont has never issued concealed carry permits, residents who want to carry concealed in other states usually need to obtain a non-resident permit from a state that issues them. Many states grant reciprocity only to permit holders from comparable licensing systems, and Vermont has no permit to offer. Visitors traveling into Vermont face no such hurdle and may carry as long as they follow Vermont law.

Where Firearms Are Banned

Permitless carry does not override location-specific bans.

Schools are off-limits. Knowingly possessing a firearm in a school building, on a school bus, or on school property carries up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine for a first offense, rising to three years and $5,000 for a second offense. Possession on school property with intent to injure raises the first-offense ceiling to three years and later offenses to five.¹⁰

Courthouses are also restricted. Carrying a firearm inside a courthouse without court authorization carries up to one year in prison, a $500 fine, or both. Courthouses certified as secured buildings by the Court Administrator do not allow any dangerous weapon.¹¹

Private property owners and occupants can prohibit firearms on their premises by posting signs or by telling you directly. Entering or remaining on posted property with a firearm after notice can result in an unlawful trespass charge carrying up to three months in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.¹²

Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Vermont’s red flag law lets a court temporarily bar someone from possessing firearms when evidence shows the person poses an extreme risk of harming themselves or others. A petition can be filed by a State’s Attorney, the Office of the Attorney General, or a family or household member.¹³

The petitioner has to show that the respondent has inflicted or attempted bodily harm, put others in reasonable fear of physical harm, presented a danger to people in their care, or threatened or attempted suicide or serious self-harm. If the court is persuaded, it orders surrender of all firearms and prohibits new purchases or possession for up to six months.¹³ When the risk is imminent, a petitioner can seek a temporary ex parte order lasting up to 14 days, during which a full hearing must be scheduled.¹⁴ The six-month order can be renewed for additional six-month periods if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent still poses an extreme risk of harm through access to weapons.¹⁵

Self-Defense and Use of Deadly Force

Vermont treats deadly force as justified when a person reasonably believes they or someone else face imminent danger of death, or are confronting an attempt to commit murder, sexual assault, burglary, or robbery. A person who kills or wounds an attacker under those conditions is considered guiltless.¹⁶

Vermont has no stand-your-ground statute, and the self-defense statute does not mention a duty to retreat. The Vermont Supreme Court has read the law to impose no duty to retreat before using force in public. You are not required to attempt escape before defending yourself, but the force you use still has to be proportional to the threat.

1
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4020 – Sale of Firearms to Persons Under 21 Years of Age Prohibited
2
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4017 – Persons Prohibited From Possessing Firearms; Conviction of Violent Crime
3
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4025 – Straw Purchases
4
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4019 – Firearms Transfers; Background Checks
5
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4019a – Firearms Transfers; Waiting Period
6
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4021 – Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Devices
7
Department of Public Safety. New Vermont Gun Laws FAQs
8
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4081 – Vermont Ghost Guns Act
9
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4024 – Firearms Storage
10
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4004 – Possession of Dangerous or Deadly Weapon in a School Bus or School Building or on School Property
11
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4016 – Weapons in Court
12
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 3705 – Unlawful Trespass
13
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4053 – Petition for Extreme Risk Protection Order
14
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4054 – Emergency Relief; Temporary Ex Parte Order
15
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 4055 – Extreme Risk Protection Orders; Renewal
16
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 2305 – Justifiable Homicide