Kentucky Concealed Carry Laws

There are now three lawful ways to carry a concealed deadly weapon in Kentucky, and which one applies to you depends almost entirely on your age.

1. Permitless carry, age 21 and up. KRS 237.109 lets anyone 21 or older who can otherwise lawfully possess a firearm carry a concealed firearm or other concealed deadly weapon without any license, in the same locations as a licensee. This has been the law since June 27, 2019 (2019 Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 1).
2. Standard CCDW license, age 21 and up. The Department of Kentucky State Police issues five-year licenses under KRS 237.110.
3. Provisional CCDW license, ages 18 to 20. New as of July 15, 2026. KRS 237.118, created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 173 (HB 312), directs KSP to license 18, 19, and 20 year olds who meet every other standard-license criterion.

All three routes carry under the same location rules. KRS 237.109(1) puts permitless carriers in "the same locations as persons with valid licenses issued under KRS 237.110," and KRS 237.118(3)(b) makes every reference in the Kentucky Revised Statutes to a KRS 237.110 license also a reference to a provisional license. So when this page says a licensee cannot carry somewhere, that applies to permitless carriers and provisional licensees too.

Below 18, concealed carry is not available at all. Nothing in KRS 237.109, KRS 237.110, or KRS 237.118 reaches anyone under 18.

What changed in 2026: the provisional license

House Bill 312 of the 2026 Regular Session created a new section of KRS Chapter 237, codified as KRS 237.118. The bill passed the House 73-17 on January 23, 2026 and the Senate 30-7 on March 20, 2026. Governor Beshear vetoed it on April 3, 2026. On April 14, 2026 the House overrode the veto 81-18, the Senate overrode 28-9, and the bill was delivered to the Secretary of State as 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 173. The statute took effect July 15, 2026.

What it does for carrying purposes:

• A provisional license goes to a person who is 18 but younger than 21 and who, notwithstanding the age floor in KRS 237.110(4)(c), otherwise meets the criteria in KRS 237.110(4) and the requirements of KRS 237.110(3). Nothing else is waived. Same background check, same training.
• Under KRS 237.118(4), it is valid throughout the Commonwealth, authorizes concealed carry of a firearm, other deadly weapon, or a combination on or about the person, and authorizes carrying ammunition for a firearm on or about the person, at any location in the Commonwealth except where the Kentucky Revised Statutes or federal law say otherwise.
• It expires when the holder turns 21, not on a five-year cycle (KRS 237.118(4)(b)).
• It must be readily distinguishable from a standard license (KRS 237.118(5)).

Permitless carry did not change. KRS 237.109 still starts at 21. An 18 to 20 year old without a provisional license still cannot carry concealed in Kentucky outside the KRS 527.020 exemptions described below.

KSP is not accepting these applications yet. As of the most recent KSP CCDW page in this archive, KSP contacted its online-application vendor in early April, the vendor began work on June 15, and the portal "is expected to be updated this fall" before it begins accepting applications from eligible individuals ages 18 to 20. KSP says it will announce the official launch date once the upgrades are complete. Tell students in this age band to watch the KSP site instead of assuming the door is open.

KSP's older guidance is stale on this point. The permitless carry FAQ and the CCDW home FAQ both still say that persons under 21 "may be eligible to possess a firearm, but are not allowed to carry the firearm (or other deadly weapon) concealed in Kentucky." That text predates KRS 237.118 and is now correct only for 18 to 20 year olds who do not hold a provisional license.

See the Permit Basics section for the application, expiration, and switch-to-standard mechanics.

What counts as concealed

KRS 527.020(1) defines the offense: a person is guilty of carrying a concealed weapon when he or she carries concealed a firearm or other deadly weapon on or about his or her person in violation of the section.

Two rules cut that back sharply.

Original-equipment vehicle storage is not concealment. Under KRS 527.020(8), a loaded or unloaded firearm or other deadly weapon is not deemed concealed on or about the person if it is in any enclosed container, compartment, or storage space installed as original equipment in a motor vehicle by its manufacturer, including but not limited to a glove compartment, center console, or seat pocket. It does not matter whether that space is locked, unlocked, or has no locking mechanism at all. No person or organization, public or private, may prohibit a person from keeping a loaded or unloaded firearm, ammunition, or other deadly weapon in a vehicle in accordance with that subsection, and an attempt to do so may be the subject of an action for relief or damages in Circuit Court or District Court. This subsection does not apply to anyone prohibited from possessing a firearm under KRS 527.040.

Note the citation carefully. This is KRS 527.020(8), in the penal code, not KRS 237.110. It is not a licensee benefit. It applies to anyone who is not a KRS 527.040 prohibited person, including an 18 to 20 year old with no license.

No penalty where open carry is constitutionally protected. KRS 527.020(4) provides that, unless otherwise specifically provided by the Kentucky Revised Statutes or applicable federal law, no criminal penalty attaches to carrying a concealed firearm or other deadly weapon at any location at which an unconcealed firearm or other deadly weapon may be constitutionally carried. The same subsection bars any person or organization, public or private, from prohibiting possession of a firearm, ammunition, or other deadly weapon in a person's vehicle in compliance with KRS 237.109, 237.110, and 237.115.

Where you cannot carry

KRS 237.110(16) says that, except as provided in KRS 527.020, no license authorizes carrying a concealed firearm into:

• (a) Any police station or sheriff's office.
• (b) Any detention facility, prison, or jail.
• (c) Any courthouse, solely occupied by the Court of Justice courtroom, or court proceeding.
• (d) Any meeting of the governing body of a county, municipality, or special district, or any meeting of the General Assembly or a committee of the General Assembly. A member of the body who holds a concealed deadly weapon license may carry at a meeting of the body of which he or she is a member.
• (e) Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense beer or alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion is primarily devoted to that purpose.
• (f) Any elementary or secondary school facility without the consent of school authorities as provided in KRS 527.070, any child-caring facility as defined in KRS 199.011, any day-care center as defined in KRS 199.894, or any certified family child-care home as defined in KRS 199.8982. An owner of a certified child-care home may carry a concealed firearm into the owner's residence used as a certified child-care home.
• (g) An area of an airport to which access is controlled by the inspection of persons and property.
• (h) Any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.

Because of KRS 237.109(1) and KRS 237.118(3)(b), this list binds permitless carriers and provisional licensees on the same terms.

Three more layers sit on top of that list.

Government buildings and campuses (KRS 237.115). Except as provided in KRS 527.020, nothing in KRS 237.110 limits the right of a college, university, or any postsecondary education facility, including technical schools and community colleges, to control the possession of deadly weapons on any property owned or controlled by them. Separately, the legislative body of a state, city, county, or urban-county government may, by statute, administrative regulation, or ordinance, prohibit or limit licensee concealed carry in that portion of a building owned, leased, or controlled by that unit of government. Restricted portions must be clearly identified by signs posted at the entrance. The ordinance has to exempt public housing used by private persons, highway rest areas, firing ranges, and private dwellings owned, leased, or controlled by that unit of government, and it cannot carry a criminal penalty. The remedy is denial of entry, an order to leave, or employee discipline. KSP puts the practical version this way: check with units of state and local government and with postsecondary education facilities before carrying concealed on their property.

Schools and bars, by separate statute. KSP's restrictions page notes that KRS 527.070 prohibits unlawful possession of a weapon on school property whether carried openly or concealed, subject to specified exceptions, and that KRS 244.125 prohibits loaded firearms, concealed or otherwise, in places where alcohol is sold by the drink, subject to specified exceptions. The text of those two statutes is not in this archive, so the exceptions are not reproduced here. Read them before relying on either.

Private property. Kentucky law does not stop the owner of private premises from excluding people carrying firearms. KSP warns that failure to vacate private premises when asked could result in a criminal trespass charge.

Private businesses, employers, and parking lots

KRS 237.110(17) is the operative rule, and it is more specific than "private property owners can say no."

• The owner, business or commercial lessee, or manager of a private business enterprise, a day-care center as defined in KRS 199.894, a certified or licensed family child-care home as defined in KRS 199.8982, or a health-care facility licensed under KRS Chapter 216B (except facilities renting or leasing housing) may prohibit concealed deadly weapon license holders from carrying on the premises, and may prohibit employees who are not authorized by the employer from carrying on the employer's property.
• If the building or premises are open to the public, the employer or business must post signs on or about the premises when concealed carry is prohibited.
• Possession of weapons or ammunition in a vehicle on the premises is not a criminal offense so long as they are not removed from the vehicle or brandished while the vehicle is on the premises.
• A private employer, but not a public employer, may prohibit license holders from carrying weapons or ammunition in vehicles owned by the employer. Neither may prohibit carrying weapons or ammunition in vehicles owned by the employee. The one carve-out: the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet may prohibit an employee from carrying weapons or ammunition other than those issued or authorized for use by the employee, in a vehicle while transporting persons under the employee's supervision or jurisdiction.
• Violating a KRS 237.110(17) restriction is not a criminal act. It can get you denied entry, removed from the premises, or disciplined by your employer.

Places and people the concealed-carry offense does not reach

KRS 527.020(9) exempts three situations from the section entirely, with no license and no age qualifier attached:

• On real property that you, your spouse, parent, grandparent, or child owns, if you are the owner or have the owner's permission.
• On real property that you, your spouse, parent, grandparent, or child occupies under a lease, if you are the lessee or have the lessee's permission.
• On real property owned or leased by a business of which you are the sole proprietor.

KRS 527.020(2) and (3) exempt certain officials outright, without reference to any license: peace officers and certified court security officers when necessary for their protection in the discharge of official duties; United States mail carriers when actually engaged in their duties; agents and messengers of express companies when necessary for their protection in the discharge of official duties; and the director of the Division of Law Enforcement in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, game wardens of that department, and policemen directly employed by state, county, city, or urban-county governments, who may carry concealed at all times within the Commonwealth when expressly authorized by law or by the government employing the officer.

Carry at all times and all locations: the special-status categories

KRS 527.020(5). If they hold a license under KRS 237.110 or KRS 237.138 to 237.142, the following may carry a firearm or other concealed deadly weapon at all times and at all locations in the Commonwealth, without limitation other than the detention-facility rule below:

1. A Commonwealth's attorney or assistant Commonwealth's attorney.
2. A retired Commonwealth's attorney or retired assistant Commonwealth's attorney.
3. A county attorney or assistant county attorney.
4. A retired county attorney or retired assistant county attorney.
5. A justice or judge of the Court of Justice.
6. A retired or senior status justice or judge of the Court of Justice.
7. A retired peace officer who holds a concealed deadly weapon license issued under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. sec. 926C, and KRS 237.138 to 237.142.

A person in this group is issued a license that bears on its face a statement that it is valid at all locations within the Commonwealth.

KRS 527.020(6). These may carry concealed at all times and all locations without needing a license under subsection (5):

• An elected sheriff, and full-time and part-time deputy sheriffs certified under KRS 15.380 to 15.404, when expressly authorized by the unit of government employing the officer.
• An elected jailer, and a deputy jailer who has completed Department of Corrections basic training and maintains current in-service training, when expressly authorized by the jailer.
• The department head or any employee of a corrections department in a jurisdiction where the office of elected jailer has been merged with the office of sheriff, who has completed Department of Corrections basic training and maintains current in-service training, when expressly authorized by the employing unit of government.

KRS 527.020(7). A full-time paid peace officer of a government agency from another state or territory of the United States, or an elected sheriff from another territory of the United States, may carry concealed in Kentucky on or off duty if that state or territory accords Kentucky full-time paid peace officers and elected sheriffs the same rights by law. If the other jurisdiction limits Kentucky officers to on-duty carry, the same restriction applies in reverse.

The detention-facility limit applies to all three groups. None of subsections (5), (6), or (7) authorizes carrying a concealed deadly weapon in a detention facility as defined in KRS 520.010, or on the premises of one, without permission from the warden, jailer, or other person in charge (or someone that person authorizes). "Detention facility" here does not include courtrooms, facilities, or other premises used by the Court of Justice or administered by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

What you may carry concealed

The statutory term is deadly weapon, defined at KRS 500.080(4) as any of the following:

• A weapon of mass destruction.
• Any weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or other serious physical injury, may be discharged.
• Any knife other than an ordinary pocket knife or hunting knife.
• Billy, nightstick, or club.
• Blackjack or slapjack.
• Nunchaku karate sticks.
• Shuriken or death star.
• Artificial knuckles made from metal, plastic, or other similar hard material.

KSP's own list of "weapons covered under the CCDW license" tracks that definition but drops the weapon of mass destruction entry and the knife entry, and describes artificial knuckles as "plastic or other similar hard material" without "metal." Treat KRS 500.080 as controlling. On permitless carry, KSP itself points to KRS 500.080: a person who qualifies can carry any deadly weapon as defined by that section concealed on or about the person, and the laws governing open carry are unchanged.

If you carry on a license

Keep it on you. KRS 237.110(15) requires a licensee to carry the license at all times while carrying a concealed firearm or other deadly weapon, and to display it on request of a law enforcement officer. Violation is a noncriminal violation with a $25 penalty payable to the clerk of the District Court, and no court costs.

Kentucky has no separate statutory duty to volunteer that you are armed. See the Duty to Inform section.

Report an address change within 30 days. Under KRS 237.110(11) you must notify KSP within 30 days after changing a permanent address, and within 30 days after the loss, theft, or destruction of a license. Failure to notify is a noncriminal violation with a $25 penalty payable to the clerk of the District Court, with no court costs. KSP's procedure: complete a Carry Concealed Deadly Weapons Licensee Request for Change of Personal Information (form KSP 121) at the office of the sheriff of your county of residence, and the sheriff forwards it to KSP. KSP says it cannot update an address by telephone or fax.

A domestic violence order takes the license. Under KRS 237.110(13)(k), when a domestic violence order or emergency protective order issues under KRS Chapter 403 against a license holder, the holder must surrender the license to the court or to the officer serving the order, and the license stays suspended until the order terminates or the issuing judge terminates the suspension in writing and returns the license. A peace officer subject to such an order may not carry concealed off duty, the provisions of KRS 527.020 notwithstanding.

Penalties

The Class A misdemeanor and Class D felony grades come from KRS 527.020(10) as the statute reads today. KSP's CCDW FAQ still cites that penalty as "KRS 527.020(9)," which was the subsection number before the own-property exemption was added. The text KSP quotes is the same; only the numbering moved.

Visitors and new residents

Non-residents with an out-of-state license. KRS 237.110(20)(a): a person who is not a Kentucky resident and who holds a valid license issued by another state to carry a concealed deadly weapon in that state may, subject to Kentucky law, carry concealed in Kentucky, and that license is considered valid here. KSP dates its recognition of other states' licenses to July 15, 1998 and publishes a state-by-state chart of which jurisdictions recognize Kentucky licenses in return.

Non-residents with no license. KSP's permitless carry guidance: any person who is eligible to possess a firearm under the laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky may carry a concealed firearm or other concealed deadly weapon in Kentucky without regard to citizenship or state of residence. Read together with KRS 237.109, that route still requires being 21 or older.

Moving to Kentucky. KRS 237.110(20)(b) through (d): if you hold a valid license from a state that has entered into a reciprocity agreement with KSP and you become a Kentucky resident, your out-of-state license stays valid for the first 120 days of residence, but only if within 60 days of moving you complete the KSP form. The form requires a signed and notarized statement that your license is valid, in compliance with the issuing state's law, and has not been revoked or suspended (except for valid forfeiture on departure); your name, date of birth, citizenship, gender, Social Security number if applicable, proof of United States citizenship, permanent residence, or other lawful presence, your former out-of-state address, your current Kentucky address, the date Kentucky residence began, the issuing state, and the license number; and a photocopy of the out-of-state license. Deliver it by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, within 60 days of moving. The out-of-state license goes invalid on the earlier of 120 days of Kentucky residence or issuance of a Kentucky license.

Carrying out of Kentucky. KSP is blunt about this: Kentucky permitless carry does not apply out of state, and carry by Kentucky residents visiting other states is governed by those states' laws. Only states that require no license for anyone would let a Kentucky resident carry concealed with no CCDW license, and those states may differ on which weapons may be carried. This is the main reason KSP gives for getting a license you do not technically need at home. KSP also states that only a valid CCDW license will serve as a substitute for the NICS background check when purchasing a firearm.

See the Reciprocity section for the state-by-state detail.

Ambiguities and open items

• Effective-date wording. KRS 237.118 as published by the Legislative Research Commission carries "Effective: July 15, 2026," and KSP says the bill "became effective on July 15." The Acts chapter itself is stamped only "Veto Overridden April 14, 2026." Where a secondary account gives a different date, follow the LRC statute page.
• Does a provisional license travel? No source in this archive says whether another state that recognizes Kentucky CCDW licenses will honor a KRS 237.118 provisional license, or whether KSP will pursue that in its KRS 237.110(20)(e) annual inquiries. Assume nothing.
• Does a provisional license work at a gun counter? KSP says a valid CCDW license substitutes for the NICS check. Whether a provisional license does the same is not addressed anywhere in this archive, and federal purchase limits on buyers under 21 are a separate question. See Permit Basics.
• KRS 527.070 and KRS 244.125 exceptions are not reproduced here. Only KSP's one-line summaries of those statutes are in this archive. The statutory exceptions matter, especially for school property and for restaurants that serve alcohol.
• KSP's restrictions page and the statute differ in one place. KSP lists "County, municipal, or special district governing body meetings" and "Meeting of governing body of a county, municipality, or special district" as separate bullets, and does not carry the KRS 237.110(16)(d) exception that lets a member of the body carry at a meeting of his or her own body. The statute controls.
• KSP guidance has not been updated for HB 312. Several KSP pages still describe a world in which nobody under 21 may carry concealed in Kentucky.
• No administrative regulations yet. Nothing in this archive shows KSP has promulgated regulations under KRS 237.118(8).

Statute reference

Contacts

Kentucky State Police, CCDW Section Phone: (502) 227-8700

Kentucky State Police Headquarters 919 Versailles Rd, Frankfort, KY 40601 Phone: (502) 782-1800

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Louisville Field Division 600 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Place, Suite 500, Louisville, KY 40202 Phone: (502) 753-3400 Fax: (502) 753-3401

KSP does not issue legal opinions to the public. Its CCDW pages carry a standing disclaimer that the information is provided for convenience and is not a formal legal opinion or legal advice.