Missouri Gun Laws: Complete Guide

Private Sales and Transfers

• Missouri makes it a felony to knowingly sell, lend, give, or otherwise deliver a firearm or ammunition to a person disqualified under RSMo 571.070. Federal law separately bars a transfer when the seller knows or has reasonable cause to believe the recipient falls within a federal prohibited-person category. [3][5][20]
• A transferor also may not recklessly provide a firearm to a person under eighteen without consent from the minor's custodial parent or guardian, or recklessly provide a firearm or ammunition to an intoxicated person. Missouri also criminalizes knowingly using materially false information or inducing a dealer or private seller to complete an unlawful transfer. [3][4]
• Interstate transfers ordinarily must pass through an FFL in the recipient's state, and a person who is engaged in the business of dealing in firearms must be federally licensed. An occasional lawful intrastate sale is treated differently from operating as a dealer. [17]

• Confirm Missouri residency, identity, age, and eligibility. [1][17]
• Use an FFL whenever residency or eligibility is uncertain. [17]
• Do not act as the named buyer for another person or accept materially false information intended to disguise an unlawful sale. [4]

Important notice: A voluntary bill of sale does not legalize an otherwise prohibited transfer. [17]

Buying a Firearm

• Missouri requires no general purchase permit, waiting period, owner license, or registration. Dealers conduct the federal NICS process and federal dealer age limits apply. [1][19][18]
• A federally licensed dealer generally may transfer a rifle or shotgun to a buyer at age eighteen but may not transfer a handgun or a firearm other than a rifle or shotgun until age twenty-one. Parental consent addresses only Missouri's under-eighteen transfer rule; it does not override federal dealer age limits or the separate federal restrictions on transferring a handgun to someone under eighteen. [3][18]
• Both dealers and private sellers are protected by Missouri's fraudulent-purchase statute: a buyer may not knowingly give materially false information about whether a transfer is legal or recruit another person to do so. Dealer purchases also require the federal transaction record and a completed NICS check unless a federal exception applies. [4][21][19]

Ownership and Prohibited Persons

• Missouri prohibits knowing firearm possession by a person convicted of a Missouri felony or an out-of-state or federal crime that would be a Missouri felony. State law also covers fugitives, people habitually in an intoxicated or drugged condition, and people currently adjudged mentally incompetent; the felony provision has a narrow antique-firearm exception. [5]
• Federal law adds categories that include unlawful users of controlled substances, certain noncitizens, people dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, people subject to qualifying protection orders, and people convicted of qualifying misdemeanor domestic-violence offenses. A person must satisfy both Missouri and federal law, and Missouri has no general extreme risk protection order statute. [20][1]
• Finishing a felony sentence does not by itself end Missouri's possession prohibition. A pardon or qualifying expungement may affect the state disability, but the scope of the relief and any remaining federal disability must be evaluated before acquiring a firearm; restoration under one sovereign's law does not necessarily resolve the other sovereign's prohibition. [5][11][20]

Concealed and Open Carry

• A person who may lawfully possess a firearm may generally carry it concealed in Missouri without obtaining a permit. Permitless carry does not excuse carrying into a place restricted by RSMo 571.107, threatening exhibition of a weapon, or negligent or unlawful handling or discharge while intoxicated. [2][7][5]
• Missouri's optional resident permit is generally available at age nineteen, or at eighteen for a member of the United States Armed Forces or a person honorably discharged from them. Applicants apply to the sheriff, must meet statutory eligibility and background-check requirements, and ordinarily must document qualifying firearms-safety training; a standard permit is valid for five years. [6][8]
• Missouri recognizes a valid concealed-carry permit issued by another state or its political subdivision. A valid permit also changes the consequences in many listed restricted places and overrides a local open-carry ban when the carrier keeps the permit in possession and displays it on an officer's demand. Travelers still must check the law of every other state they enter because Missouri's recognition rule does not create outbound reciprocity. [2][7][10][12]

Self-Defense and the Castle Doctrine in Missouri

• The Missouri Constitution, Article I, Section 23, protects the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms, ammunition, and accessories typical to their normal function in defense of home, person, family, and property, treats that right as unalienable, and subjects any restriction on it to strict scrutiny, while still allowing the general assembly to limit the rights of convicted violent felons and people adjudicated a danger to themselves or others because of a mental disorder. [13]
• RSMo 563.031 generally justifies using physical force, and in some cases deadly force, when and to the extent a person reasonably believes it necessary to defend themselves, an unborn child, or a third person against another's use or imminent use of unlawful force. Deadly force is justified against death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony, and also against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle the defender lawfully occupies. [14]
• Missouri imposes no duty to retreat from a dwelling, residence, or vehicle the person is not unlawfully entering or remaining in, from private property the person owns or leases, or from any other location the person has a right to be. The justification does not apply, however, to a person who was the initial aggressor, with limited exceptions such as withdrawing from the encounter or acting as a law enforcement officer. [14]
• A separate statute, RSMo 563.041, addresses using nondeadly and, in limited circumstances, deadly force to defend premises against trespass or other unlawful interference with property; that provision carries its own, more restrictive conditions than the defense-of-person rule. [15]

Important notice: RSMo 563.074 makes a justified use of force under Missouri's defense-of-person, defense-of-premises, and related justification statutes an absolute defense to both criminal prosecution and civil liability for the same conduct, and directs a court to award attorney's fees, court costs, and reasonable expenses to a defendant who establishes that absolute defense in a civil suit. That is a stronger civil protection than exists in every state, but it still turns on the same fact-specific reasonableness standard as the criminal justification, so an actual self-defense situation should not be navigated without individualized legal advice. [16]

Transportation and Vehicles

• Missouri expressly allows a person age nineteen or older, or age eighteen or older with qualifying current or former military service, to transport a lawfully possessed concealable firearm in a motor vehicle's passenger compartment. The statute does not require that firearm to be unloaded or cased, but prohibited-person and restricted-property rules still apply. [2][5][7]
• Several restricted locations—including polling places, courthouses, schools, hospitals, and posted private property—have vehicle exceptions when the firearm remains in the vehicle and is not brandished. Missouri also allows a lawfully possessed firearm while traversing school premises to transport a student to or from school; that limited exception is not general permission to carry inside a school building or at school activities. [2][7]
• For interstate travel, 18 U.S.C. 926A may protect transport between places where possession is lawful when the firearm is unloaded and neither it nor the ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment; in a vehicle without a separate trunk, they must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console. [23]

Restricted Firearms and Magazines

• Missouri has no general magazine-capacity limit or state assault-weapon classification banning commonly owned semiautomatic firearms. Local governments generally cannot create their own magazine or assault-weapon restrictions because state law preempts local regulation of firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies. [1][10]
• Missouri makes possession, manufacture, transport, repair, or sale of a machine gun, short-barreled rifle or shotgun, or firearm silencer an offense when done in violation of federal law. Accordingly, those items require full compliance with the National Firearms Act and any other applicable federal restriction before possession or transfer. [9][22]
• Do not assume every federally registered NFA item is lawful for ordinary possession in Missouri. State law separately prohibits explosive weapons and certain explosive, incendiary, or poison materials, with only narrow duty, commercial, museum, and performance exceptions; destructive-device questions therefore require item-specific review. [9][22]

Safe Storage and Reporting

• Missouri has no universal firearm-locking law or general lost-or-stolen reporting deadline for ordinary owners. Secure storage and prompt voluntary reporting remain prudent, especially where minors are present. [1]
• A private owner who chooses to report a theft should contact local law enforcement and be prepared to provide the firearm's type, make, model, caliber or gauge, and serial number; ATF does not take stolen-firearm reports directly from private citizens. Keeping a separate personal inventory can make that report more useful. [21]
• Do not confuse the rule for ordinary owners with federal dealer duties. An FFL must have secure gun-storage or safety devices available where firearms are sold to nonlicensees and must report a missing, lost, or stolen firearm from business inventory to ATF and local law enforcement within forty-eight hours after discovery. [21]

Restricted Locations and Private Property

• Missouri's statutory list includes law-enforcement stations, polling places on election day, detention facilities, court areas, government meetings and posted portions of government buildings, the bar portion of certain liquor establishments, airport sterile areas, schools and colleges, child-care facilities, riverboat gambling operations, gated amusement parks, places of worship, arenas or stadiums seating at least five thousand, publicly accessible hospitals, and places barred by federal law. Consent or other exceptions apply to some categories. [7]
• Schools receive additional protection under RSMo 571.030, which generally covers firearms whether loaded or unloaded in a school, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored function. Narrow exceptions include authorized officials and activities, unloaded or inaccessible transportation, a permit recognized by Missouri, and traversing school premises to transport a student; federal school-zone law may add separate requirements. [2][7]
• Private property is properly posted for concealed carry under RSMo 571.107 when conspicuous signs are at least eleven by fourteen inches with lettering at least one inch high. For a permit holder, entry into a listed location is generally not itself a criminal act under that section, but the person may be denied entry or ordered to leave and can face escalating citations and permit consequences for refusing; an unlicensed carrier does not receive that same statutory protection from the unlawful-use-of-weapons provision. [2][7]

State Preemption and Local Rules

• RSMo 21.750 occupies the field of legislation concerning firearm and ammunition sale, transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, transportation, licensing, registration, and most taxation. A political subdivision may adopt an ordinance that conforms exactly to specified state weapons provisions and may regulate firearm discharge and open carry, subject to the statute's exceptions. [10]
• A local open-carry prohibition cannot be applied to a person carrying under a valid Missouri permit or an out-of-state permit recognized by Missouri, provided the person has the permit in possession and displays it on a law-enforcement officer's demand. Local discharge ordinances also may not be construed to prevent lawful defense of person or property. [10]
• Separate from general preemption, the general assembly, supreme court, counties, and municipalities may restrict concealed carry by permit holders in clearly posted portions of buildings they own, lease, or control. The statute excludes public housing, highways and rest areas, firing ranges, and private dwellings under government control from that building authority and permits denial of entry, removal, and employee discipline rather than a local criminal penalty. [7]

Before Completing a Private Firearm Sale in Missouri

• Confirm Missouri residency, identity, age, and eligibility before a private transfer. [1][17]
• Use an FFL for interstate transfers or whenever eligibility is uncertain. [17]
• Check the statutory age rule and every restricted location before carrying. [2][7]
• Check local ordinances before open carrying without a valid permit. [10]
• Complete all federal requirements before possessing an NFA firearm. [22]
• Store firearms securely and keep serial-number records separately. [1]

Official Missouri Firearm Law Resources

Missouri Gun Law FAQ

Sources

1. 1. RSMo Chapter 571, Weapons OffensesMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 7, 2026.
2. 2. RSMo Section 571.030, Unlawful Use of WeaponsMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 7, 2026.
3. 3. RSMo Section 571.060, Unlawful Transfer of WeaponsMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 8, 2026.
4. 4. RSMo Section 571.063, Fraudulent Purchase of a FirearmMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 8, 2026.
5. 5. RSMo Section 571.070, Unlawful Firearm PossessionMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 8, 2026.
6. 6. RSMo Section 571.101, Concealed Carry PermitsMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 7, 2026.
7. 7. RSMo Section 571.107, Concealed Carry LocationsMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 7, 2026.
8. 8. RSMo Section 571.111, Concealed Carry TrainingMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 8, 2026.
9. 9. RSMo Section 571.020, Certain Regulated WeaponsMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 8, 2026.
10. 10. RSMo Section 21.750, Firearm PreemptionMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 7, 2026.
11. 11. Alpert v. State, No. SC96024Supreme Court of Missouri. State agency. Accessed August 8, 2026.
12. 12. Concealed Carry ReciprocityMissouri Attorney General. State agency. Accessed August 9, 2026.
13. 13. Missouri Constitution, Article I, Section 23Missouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 13, 2026.
14. 14. RSMo Section 563.031, Use of Force in Defense of PersonsMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 13, 2026.
15. 15. RSMo Section 563.041, Use of Force in Defense of PremisesMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 13, 2026.
16. 16. RSMo Section 563.074, Justification as an Absolute DefenseMissouri Revisor of Statutes. State statute. Accessed August 13, 2026.
17. 17. Firearms Questions and Answers: Unlicensed PersonsBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal agency. Accessed August 7, 2026.
18. 18. Minimum Age for Gun Sales and TransfersBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal agency. Accessed August 7, 2026.
19. 19. National Instant Criminal Background Check SystemFederal Bureau of Investigation. Federal agency. Accessed August 7, 2026.
20. 20. Identify Prohibited PersonsBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal agency. Accessed August 8, 2026.
21. 21. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices GuideBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal agency. Accessed August 8, 2026.
22. 22. National Firearms ActBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal agency. Accessed August 7, 2026.
23. 23. 18 U.S.C. 926A, Interstate Transportation of FirearmsOffice of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal statute. Accessed August 7, 2026.