Vermont Gun Laws: Carry, Purchase, and Prohibited Places

Vermont gun laws let any adult who can legally possess a firearm carry it openly or concealed in public without a permit, a fee, or a training course, but the state layers universal background checks, a 72-hour waiting period, a minimum purchase age of 21, magazine caps, a bump-stock ban, and an extreme risk protection order system on top of that permitless-carry foundation.¹

Carry Without a Permit

Vermont does not issue concealed-carry permits and does not require one. Anyone who may lawfully possess a firearm can carry openly or concealed. There is no state firearm registry, so lawful owners do not need to register individual guns.¹

Legal carry in Vermont comes down to one question: are you legally allowed to possess a firearm? If you are not a prohibited person under state or federal law, you can carry.

Buying a Firearm

Background Checks Cover Private Sales

Every firearm sale or transfer in Vermont must go through a licensed dealer who runs a federal background check. That includes private sales between individuals. If you want to sell a gun to a friend or buy one through a classified ad, both parties need to appear at a dealer together with the firearm so the dealer can process the check.² Dealers typically charge a processing fee of roughly $30 to $75 for handling a private transfer.

A few transfers are exempt. You can transfer a firearm to an immediate family member without a dealer. Transfers by or to law enforcement acting in official duties are exempt, as are emergency transfers made to prevent imminent harm.²

Skipping the background check on a non-exempt transfer is a criminal offense punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.²

The 72-Hour Waiting Period

Once the dealer submits the background check to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the firearm cannot change hands for at least 72 hours from the time NICS returns a unique identification number, or seven business days from when the dealer first contacted NICS, whichever comes first.³ The waiting period took effect July 1, 2023.⁴ Transfers exempt from the background check are also exempt from the wait, and so is returning a firearm to its owner after a dealer has serialized it.

Age 21 Minimum, With Three Exceptions

Selling a firearm to anyone under 21 is illegal in Vermont. Sellers who violate this rule face up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.⁵ Three groups of younger buyers can still purchase:

Certified law enforcement officers, regardless of age.
Active-duty or veteran members of the Vermont National Guard, another state’s National Guard, or the U.S. Armed Forces.
Anyone who presents a certificate of completion from a Vermont hunter safety course, or an equivalent course approved by the Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife (courses from other states or Canadian provinces can qualify).

These exceptions allow the purchase itself. The buyer still has to pass the background check and wait out the 72 hours.⁵

Straw Purchases

Buying a firearm on behalf of someone legally barred from owning one, or someone who plans to use it in a felony, is a serious crime. It applies even if you are buying at the other person’s request and know or should know they are prohibited. The penalty runs up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.⁶

Who Cannot Possess a Firearm

Violent Crime Convictions

Vermont prohibits anyone convicted of a “violent crime” from possessing a firearm. The definition is broad. It covers most offenses on Vermont’s “listed crimes” roster (serious felonies like assault, robbery, kidnapping, and sexual offenses), certain drug-trafficking convictions, and offenses involving sexual exploitation of children. A comparable out-of-state conviction qualifies if it would bar possession under federal law. Possession after such a conviction carries up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.⁷

Protection Orders, Fugitives, and Pending Charges

Firearm possession is also barred for several other categories:

Anyone subject to a final relief-from-abuse order.
Anyone subject to a final stalking order that specifically prohibits firearm possession.
Anyone who has fled to avoid prosecution or testimony in a criminal case.
Anyone facing charges for carrying a weapon during a felony, drug trafficking, or human trafficking.

Violation carries up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.⁸

Magazine Limits and Restricted Accessories

Magazine capacity is capped at 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns. A magazine that can be “readily restored or converted” to exceed those limits is also restricted. Possessing an oversized magazine carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $500, or both.⁹

Bump-fire stocks are banned. Vermont defines them as stocks designed to attach to a semi-automatic firearm and use recoil energy to simulate fully automatic fire. Possession carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.¹⁰

Building a firearm at home is not itself illegal in Vermont, but possessing one without a serial number is. Unserialized firearms must be taken to a licensed dealer for a background check and serial-number engraving. The law imposes enhanced penalties for committing a crime while in possession of an unserialized firearm.³

Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and other items regulated under the federal National Firearms Act (NFA) are legal to own in Vermont if you comply with federal requirements. As of January 2026, the federal tax-stamp fee for NFA items has been reduced to $0, though you still need to submit either a Form 1 (for items you build) or a Form 4 (for items you buy) through the ATF and receive approval before taking possession.

Where Firearms Are Prohibited

Schools

Possessing a firearm or any dangerous weapon inside a school building or on a school bus is a crime. A first offense carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. A second or subsequent offense jumps to up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Possession on school property with intent to injure someone is treated more seriously still.¹¹

Courthouses

Carrying a firearm inside a courthouse without court authorization is punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $500, or both. Courthouses must post notice at every public entrance. Buildings certified as secured facilities by the Court Administrator prohibit all dangerous weapons entirely, with no exceptions.¹²

Federal Facilities

Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, knowingly bringing a firearm into any federal facility (a building owned or leased by the federal government where employees regularly work) is a federal crime punishable by up to one year in prison. If you bring the weapon with intent to commit a crime, the penalty rises to up to five years. Federal court facilities carry up to two years for simple possession. In Vermont this covers post offices, federal courthouses, VA hospitals, and other government buildings.¹³

Private Property

Private property owners can prohibit firearms on their premises. Vermont has no specific statute governing how “no firearms” policies must be communicated, but an owner who asks you to leave because you are armed can enforce that request through trespass law. Refuse to leave and you risk a trespassing charge.

Self-Defense and Use of Force

Vermont does not have a “stand your ground” statute. State self-defense law rests on common-law principles interpreted through court decisions rather than a single, clearly written statute. Vermont courts have generally held that you must retreat from a confrontation if you can do so safely before resorting to deadly force. Deadly force is justified only if you reasonably believe you face an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm and have no reasonable way to avoid the confrontation.

Inside your own home, Vermont courts have given somewhat more latitude under castle-doctrine principles, recognizing that a person in their residence has less obligation to flee. The boundaries there are defined by case law rather than statutory text, which creates more uncertainty than in states with explicit castle-doctrine or stand-your-ground statutes. If you can safely walk away from a threat, Vermont law generally expects you to do that before using lethal force.

Storage and Child Access

Vermont’s child-access-prevention law took effect in 2023. You can face criminal liability if you store or keep a firearm on premises you control and you know or should know that a child under 18 or a prohibited person is likely to access it.

The law provides several defenses. You are not liable if any of the following applies:

You kept the firearm on your person or close enough to retrieve and use it immediately.
The child or prohibited person got the firearm through illegal entry.
Access occurred during lawful self-defense.
The firearm was stored in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant lock or safety device.

Vermont does not have a general safe-storage mandate requiring all firearms to be locked up when unattended, and dealers are not required to include a locking device with a sale.

Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Vermont’s extreme risk protection order (ERPO) system lets a court temporarily remove firearms from someone who poses an imminent danger to themselves or others. A state’s attorney, the attorney general’s office, or a family or household member can file the petition.¹⁴

If a judge finds sufficient evidence of immediate danger, a temporary order can be issued right away. Once served, the person must turn over all firearms to the officer serving the order.¹⁵ A full hearing must be held within 14 days of filing. A final order can last up to six months and specifies whether firearms go to law enforcement, a licensed dealer, or a court-approved third party.¹⁴ While the order is in effect, the person cannot purchase, possess, or receive any dangerous weapon, and violating the order can bring criminal charges on top of the underlying order.

1
Vermont Department of Public Safety. New Vermont Gun Laws FAQs
2
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4019 – Firearms Transfers; Background Checks
3
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4019a – Firearms Transfers; Waiting Period
4
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Open Letter to All Vermont Federal Firearms Licensees Regarding Vermont Law 13 VSA 4019a
5
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4020 – Sale of Firearms to Persons Under 21 Years of Age Prohibited
6
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4025 – Prohibited Purchase of Firearms
7
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4017 – Persons Prohibited From Possessing Firearms; Conviction of Violent Crime
8
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13, Chapter 85 – Weapons – Section 4017a
9
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4021 – Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Devices
10
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4022 – Bump-Fire Stocks; Possession Prohibited
11
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4004 – Possession of Dangerous or Deadly Weapon in a School Bus or School Building or on School Property
12
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13, Chapter 85 – Weapons – Section 4016
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
14
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 4053 – Petition for Extreme Risk Protection Order
15
Vermont Judiciary. Extreme Risk Protection Orders