8/5/2021
Alabama:
- Brass or steel Teflon-coated handgun ammo, unless designed to expand on contact.
Alaska:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Arizona:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Arkansas:
- Machine guns and short-barreled rifles.
Note: Arkansas is in the process of removing this ban to allow those who obtain a federal permit to obtain these firearms. Pay close attention to developments.
California:
- Fixed ammo (other than a caliber greater than 0.60)
- Cane guns
- Wallet guns
- Undetectable firearms
- Flechette darts
- Bullets containing or carrying an explosive agent
- Tracer ammo, except for those used in shotguns
- Armor-piercing ammo
- Unconventional pistols
- Machine guns
- Multi-trigger activators
- Short-barrel rifles or shotguns
- Silencers
- Zip guns
- Assault weapons (there’s a banned list). Assault weapon is also defined as any semi-automatic, centerfire rifle that does NOT have a fixed magazine with any one of the following: pistol grip, thumbhole stock, folding/telescoping stock, grenade or flare launcher, flash suppressor or forward pistol grip. Also includes any semi-automatic, centerfire rifle with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds, any semi-automatic, centerfire rifle less than 30 inches in length. With pistols, any semi-automatic pistol that does NOT have a fixed magazine, but that does have one of the following is an assault weapon: threaded barrel, second handgrip, barrel shroud, or the ability to attach magazine anywhere outside of the pistol grip. Also includes any semi-automatic handgun with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds. A semi-automatic shotgun is an assault weapon if it has a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a detachable magazine, or a revolving cylinder.
- .50 BMG rifles (without a permit); .50 BMG ammo is not outlawed
- SKS rifles made to use AK magazines
- Magazines holding more than 10 rounds (as of August 2020, this is being challenged)
- Handguns not certified for sale by the AG
Notes for California: ammunition checks for ammunition applies. There is also a melting-point law that effectively prohibits non-ferrous material in handguns. California in general is an incredibly strict state for gun owners; the roster of legal guns must be closely studied before ordering. While your FFL must be up to date on what is a legal transfer, you should not put them in the position for refusing a transfer.
Colorado:
- Machine guns
- Magazines holding more than 15 rounds
Note for Colorado: silencers were recently removed from an illegal list, along with short-barrel rifles or shotguns — you still need to obtain federal paperwork.
Connecticut:
- Assault weapons, except for Olympic pistols. Also, any semi-automatic, centerfire rifle with a detachable magazine that has one of the following: folding or telescoping stock, pistol grip, thumbhole stock or similar, forward pistol grip, flash suppressor, grenade or flare launcher. Also any semi-automatic, centerfire rifle with a fixed magazine capacity more than 10 rounds, or with a length less than 30 inches. Also, semi-automatic pistols with a detachable magazine that has one of the following: magazine attaches outside of the pistol grip, threaded barrel, barrel shroud or second handgrip. Also, any semi-automatic pistol with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds. Any semi-automatic shotgun with a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a detachable magazine or a revolving cylinder.
- Armor-piercing ammo
- Incendiary .50-caliber ammo
- Short-barrel shotguns
- Magazines holding more than 10 rounds (grandfathered in if bought before April 5, 2013)
Note for Connecticut: silencers are legal with the proper paperwork. Silencers are not allowed for hunting, however.
Delaware:
- Silencers (exemptions for wildlife biologists who have special permits)
- Short-barrel shotguns
- Machine guns (exemptions for experimental or scientific research)
- Trigger cranks
Florida:
- Armor-piercing or exploding ammo
- Dragon’s breath shotgun shells, bolo shells or flechette shells
- Bump stocks and binary triggers
Georgia:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Hawaii:
- Assault pistols. Defined as “a pistol that accepts a detachable magazine that has two or more of the following: magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, threaded barrel, barrel shroud, weighs more than 50 ounces, centerfire pistol with OAL greater than 12 inches or a semi-automatic version of an automatic gun.” Doesn’t include guns with a barrel of 16 inches or greater, or C&R guns.
- Automatic firearms
- Rifles with barrel lengths less than 16 inches
- Shotguns with barrel lengths less than 18 inches
- Cannons
- Mufflers
- Silencers
- Tefloan-coated ammo (or ammo coated with similar material designed to enhance penetration through metal/armor, or designed to explode)
- Multi-burst trigger activators
- Trigger cranks
- Magazines holding more than 10 rounds (that are capable of being used in a pistol)
Note for Hawaii: firearms are registered with local police. The same goes for ammunition. There is also a melting-point law so you will not see firearms with a low melting point and non-ferrous material.
Idaho:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Illinois:
- Machine guns
- Silencers
- Explosive bullet
- Firearms with a low melting point or non-ferrous material (melting-point law)
- FOID Cards for purchase required
- Any rifle having one or more barrels less than 16 inches in length, or a shotgun having one or more barrels less than 18 inches in length
- Any weapon made from a rifle or shotgun, whether by alteration, modification or otherwise, if such a weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches
- Armor-piercing bullets, dragon’s breath shotgun shell, bolo shell or flechette shell
Note for Illinois: it is also unlawful to use of a firearm in the shape of a wireless telephone (this law was passed soon after the introduction of the same type of firearm).
Indiana:
- Armor-piercing ammo, unless the person:
- Manufactures, sells or delivers armor-piercing ammunition does so for the use of:
- The United States
- A department or agency of the United States
- A state
- A law-enforcement agency
- A department, agency or political subdivision of a state
- Manufactures, sells or delivers armor-piercing ammunition for export.
- Manufactures, sells or delivers armor-piercing ammunition for the purpose of testing or experimentation.
- Is a law enforcement officer acting in the course of the officer’s official duties.
- Manufactures, sells or delivers armor-piercing ammunition does so for the use of:
Iowa:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Kansas:
- Setting spring guns
- Possessing, manufacturing, causing to be manufactured, selling, offering for sale, lending, purchasing or giving away any cartridge that can be fired by a handgun and has a plastic-coated bullet that has a core of less than 60% lead by weight, whether the person knows or has reason to know that the plastic-coated bullet has a core of less than 60% lead by weight
Kentucky:
- Selling armor-piercing ammo
Louisiana:
- Machine guns (with certain exceptions)
- Armor-piercing ammo
Maine:
- Armor-piercing ammo, except as part of a collection
Maryland:
- Assault weapon (there’s a ban list by name, which you can search here). Assault weapon is also defined as a semi-automatic, centerfire rifle with any two of the following: folding stock, grenade or flare launcher, or flash suppressor. Also, a semi-automatic, centerfire rifle with fixed magazine capacity more than 10 rounds, or with a length less than 29 inches. Also a semi-automatic pistol with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds, or semi-automatic shotgun with folding stock or revolving cylinder.
- Possession of restricted ammo:
- Contains explosive or incendiary material designed and intended for use in a firearm
- Has a core constructed, excluding traces of other substances, entirely from one or a combination of:
- Tungsten alloys
- Steel
- Iron
- Brass
- Beryllium copper
- Depleted uranium
- An equivalent material of similar density or hardness to those listed above
- Firearms with a low melting point or non-ferrous material (melting-point law)
- Any firearm not on the state’s approved firearms list
Note for Maryland: the state is strict with its approved firearms list, so if the manufacturer changes the model number for any reason (even if it’s just a change in color), the firearm is banned until it’s added back to the approved list again.
Massachusetts:
- Assault weapon (ban list, includes revolving-cylinder shotguns).
- Large-capacity feeding device (magazine holding more than 10 rounds or five shotshells) that was not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994.
- Covert weapons
- Silencers, unless a federally-licensed firearms manufacturer, an authorized agent of the municipal police training committee, or a duly-authorized sworn law-enforcement officer while acting within the scope of official duties and under the direct authorization of the police chief or his designee, or the colonel of the state police, who sells, keeps for sale, offers, gives or disposes of by any means other than submitting to an authorized law enforcement agency, or uses or possesses any instrument, attachment, weapon or appliance for causing the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol or other firearm to be silent or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol or another firearm.
Note for Massachusetts: the assault weapon ban doesn’t apply to guns that cannot readily accept a detachable magazine holding more than 10 rounds, or a shotgun that cannot hold more than five rounds.
Michigan:
- Pistols greater than 26” in length, unless the person:
- Registered the firearm as a pistol under sections 2 or 2a before January 1, 2013
- Registered the firearm and has maintained registration of the firearm since January 1, 2013, without lapse.
- Machine guns (though this prohibition does not apply to a person licensed by the federal government to manufacture, sell or possess a machine gun)
- Spring guns
- Armor-piercing ammo, unless you are a licensed dealer
Minnesota:
- Set guns/swivel guns, spring guns
- Machine guns, unless licensed dealers
- Trigger activators (like binary triggers, probably, trigger crank, anything that manually or by power-driven means activates the trigger to increase the rate of fire comparable to a machine gun)
- Machine gun conversion kits
- Short-barrel shotguns, unless licensed dealers
- “Saturday Night Special” pistols: any firearm (other than children’s
toys or pop guns, or a gun that uses CO2, air or other vapor as the
propellant force, or antique firearm) that has a frame, cylinder, barrel
or breechblock made of:
- A material that has a melting point less than 1000-degrees Fahrenheit
- Any material with ultimate tensile strength less than 55,000 pounds per square inch
- Made of any powdered metal with a density of less than 7.5 grams per cubic centimeter.
- Firearms with a low melting point or non-ferrous material (melting-point law)
Notes for Minnesota: A person who violates a provision relating to set guns or swivel guns is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. Whoever sets a spring gun, pitfall, deadfall, snare or other like dangerous weapon or device may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than six months or to payment of a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.
Mississippi:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Missouri:
- Explosive weapons
- A bullet or projectile that explodes or detonates upon impact because of an independent explosive charge after having been shot from a firearm
- Flashbangs
Montana:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Nebraska:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Nevada:
- Metal-penetrating bullets that can be used in a handgun
New Jersey:
- Short-barrel shotguns
- Silencers
- Armor-piercing ammunition (with limited exceptions), dum-dum ammo, etc.
- Firearms with a low melting point or non-ferrous material (melting-point law)
- Machine guns
- Assault firearms (banned list) also includes firearms “substantially identical” to a firearm on the ban list. Includes any semi-automatic rifle that can use a detachable magazine with at least two of the following: folding or telescoping stock, bayonet mount, flash suppressor or threaded barrel, or grenade launcher. Also, any semi-automatic shotgun with at least two of the following: folding or telescoping stock, pistol grip, fixed magazine capacity in excess of five rounds, or ability to accept a detachable magazine. Also, a semi-automatic handgun that can use a detachable magazine with at least two of the following: magazine that attaches to the gun outside of the pistol grip, a threaded barrel, barrel shroud, manufactured weight in excess of 50 ounces, or is a semi-automatic version of an automatic firearm. Also considered assault weapons are semi-automatic shotguns with a magazine capacity in excess of six rounds, a folding stock or pistol grip, and any semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine with a capacity greater than 15 rounds.
- Large capacity magazines — any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds. (Exceptions for fixed, tubular magazines feeding .22 ammunition, and retired LEO are allowed 15-round magazines.)
- Trigger cranks
Note for New Jersey: Do not carry hollow-point ammunition in your carry gun! The fine is levied on each bullet and transportation of hollow-point ammo is generally limited to your home, the shooting range and traveling between them. An FID card is also required for all firearm purchases.
New Mexico:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
New York:
- Machine guns
- Silencers
- Disguised guns (includes wallet holsters and pen guns)
- Assault weapons: any semi-automatic rifle that can use a detachable magazine with at least one of the following: folding or telescoping stock, pistol grip “that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon,” thumbhole stock, second handgrip or protruding grip that can be grasped by the non-trigger hand, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, muzzle brake, compensator, threaded barrel or grenade launcher. Also, semi-automatic shotguns with at least one of the following: folding or telescoping stock, thumbhole stock, second handgrip that can be grasped by non-trigger hand, fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds, or has the ability to use a detachable magazine. Also, semi-automatic handguns that can use a detachable magazine with at least one of the following: folding or telescoping stock, thumbhole stock, second handgrip, magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, threaded barrel, barrel shroud, manufactured weight greater than 50 ounces, or is a semi-automatic version of an automatic firearm. Also includes all revolving-cylinder shotguns. Does NOT include manually-operated guns, permanently inoperable, or antique, semi-automatic rifles that cannot accept a detachable magazine in excess of five-round capacity, semi-automatic shotguns that cannot hold more than five rounds in either a fixed or detachable magazine.
- Large-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds
- Firearms with a low melting point or non-ferrous material (melting-point law)
Note for New York: SBRs and SBSs are not specifically, by that or a similar name, banned in NY, but are covered under the handgun portion of assault-weapon definition as banned firearms.
North Carolina:
- Teflon-coated ammo
North Dakota:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Ohio:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Note for Ohio: A permit is necessary to possess “dangerous
ordnance:” any automatic or short-barreled firearm, zip guns,
supporessors or parts to convert a firearm into a dangerous ordnance. (Source)
Oklahoma:
- Restricted bullets: a round or elongated missile with a core of less than 60% lead and having a fluorocarbon coating, which is designed to travel at a high velocity and is capable of penetrating body armor.
Oregon:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Note for Oregon: While the state is mostly free of major firearm restrictions, certain cities and towns may have strict guidelines and prohibitions. Be sure to check with your local municipality before you make a purchase or a modification to a firearm.
Pennsylvania:
- “Offensive weapons” are a first-degree misdemeanor. Machine guns, silencers and short-barrel long guns are also “offensive weapons,” but have an exception (that the other items are not afforded) for their lawful use if they are NFA registered.
Note for Pennsylvania: This state is currently processing several
potential gun-related bans. We recommend that you pay special attention
to the news and stay updated about what is and isn’t banned in
Pennsylvania.
Rhode Island:
- Machine guns (need manufacturer’s license from the state)
- Untraceable firearms: 3D-printed guns, homemade guns, “ghost guns” without serial numbers, etc.
- Short-barrel rifles
- Short-barrel shotguns
- Silencers
- Armor-piercing bullets designed for use in pistols
- Trigger cranks, binary triggers, etc.
South Carolina:
- Teflon-coated ammo
South Dakota:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Tennessee:
- Explosive ammo
Texas:
- Zip guns (“a device or combination of devices that was not originally a firearm and is adapted to expel a projectile through a smooth bore or rifled-bore barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance.”)
- Armor-piercing handgun ammo (specifically listed as “ammo meant to be used in pistols and revolvers”)
Virginia:
- Machine guns that aren’t registered with state police
- Plastic firearms: any firearm, including machine guns and short-barrel shotguns as defined in this chapter, containing less than 3.7 ounces of electromagnetically-detectable metal in the barrel, slide, cylinder, frame or receiver of which, when subjected to inspection by X-ray machines commonly used at airports, does not generate an image that accurately depicts its shape.
- Striker 12, commonly called a “streetsweeper,” or any semi-automatic, folding-stock shotgun of like-kind with a spring-tension drum magazine capable of holding 12 shotgun shells.
Washington:
- Machine guns (pre-1995 grandfathered in)
- Short-barrel shotguns (pre-1995 grandfathered in)
- Unregistered handguns (partial ban)
Notes for Washington: sales are limited to those aged 21 and older. There is a “semi-automatic assault rifle” safety training program required for any firearm the state labels an “assault rifle,” such as AR-15s and other MSRs. The state is currently considering bills to further restrict firearms (such as openly carrying guns at demonstrations), so be sure to check with your local municipalities to confirm restrictions in your area.
West Virginia:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Wisconsin:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
Wyoming:
- None; free state with no major restrictions on guns, ammo or parts.
What are the banned guns, ammo and accessories in your state?
Let us know.