Kentucky is a permitless carry state for adults 21 and older, it still issues concealed carry licenses through the Kentucky State Police, and as of...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Kentucky is a permitless carry state for adults 21 and older, it still issues concealed carry licenses through the Kentucky State Police, and as of July 15, 2026 it authorizes a separate provisional license track for 18, 19, and 20 year olds.
KRS 237.109(1) provides that persons age 21 or older, and otherwise able to lawfully possess a firearm, may carry concealed firearms or other concealed deadly weapons without a license in the same locations as persons with valid licenses issued under KRS 237.110. Subsection (2) adds that nothing in the section allows carrying or possessing any deadly weapon where federal law prohibits it.
There is a date conflict worth knowing about. The statute page for KRS 237.109 reads "Effective: June 27, 2019" and records the section as created by 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 1, effective that date. KSP pages instead open with "AS OF JUNE 28, 2019, PURSUANT TO 2019 SENATE BILL 150." This guide uses June 27, 2019, because the statute is the higher authority. The same Act amended KRS 527.020 and KRS 237.115 that day.
KRS 527.020(4) is what makes permitless carry work inside the penal code: persons carrying in accordance with KRS 237.109, or licensed under KRS 237.110, may carry a concealed firearm or other concealed deadly weapon on or about their persons at all times within the Commonwealth, if carried in conformity with those sections.
Two limits follow from the text. A person 21 or older who is not eligible to lawfully possess a firearm gets nothing from the section, and a person under 21 without a provisional license is outside it entirely. The Kentucky statute behind that eligibility gate, and the one KRS 527.020(8) and KRS 237.104(3)(a) both cross-reference, is KRS 527.040, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a Class D felony unless the firearm is a handgun, in which case it is a Class C felony. Federal prohibitors apply independently.
KRS 237.118, created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 173 (House Bill 312) and effective July 15, 2026, directs KSP to issue provisional licenses to persons who are 18 years of age but younger than 21 and who, notwithstanding KRS 237.110(4)(c), otherwise meet the criteria in KRS 237.110(4) and the requirements of KRS 237.110(3). Only the age floor is set aside. The background check and the training are the same as for a 21 year old applicant.
A provisional license is valid throughout the Commonwealth, authorizes concealed carry of a firearm, other deadly weapon, or a combination plus ammunition on or about the person, and stays valid until the holder turns 21 rather than for a five year term. It must be readily distinguishable from a standard license.
Any Kentucky guidance stating flatly that people under 21 may not carry concealed here predates this statute. KSP guidance still gives that older answer, which is now correct only for 18 to 20 year olds who do not hold a provisional license. KSP has also not opened applications to this age group yet: its CCDW page states the online portal "is expected to be updated this fall" before it will accept applications from eligible individuals ages 18 to 20. See Permit Basics and Application Process for the mechanics.
KSP answers its own question, "Is there still a reason to get a CCDW license?", with a yes, citing out-of-state travel, help with dealer purchases, and the training itself. Three of those are worth stating precisely.
Travel. Kentucky permitless carry has no effect outside Kentucky. Carry in other states is governed by those states' laws, and Reciprocity carries the KSP recognition table and its warnings.
Firearm purchases. KSP states that only a valid CCDW license will serve as a substitute for the NICS background check when purchasing a firearm. The federal hook is 18 U.S.C. 922(t)(3)(A), which lifts the NICS call requirement when the buyer presents a permit to possess or acquire a firearm, issued within the past five years by the state where the transfer takes place, and issued only after an authorized government official verified that available information does not indicate that possession would violate law. A KRS 237.110 license runs five years and issues only after the KRS 237.110(3) records check.
The federal school zone. 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A) makes it unlawful to knowingly possess a firearm affecting interstate commerce at a place the individual knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a school zone, defined at 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(26) as the grounds of a public, parochial, or private school plus the area within 1,000 feet of those grounds. A violation is punishable under 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(4) by a fine, imprisonment of not more than five years, or both. The exception at 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) covers a person licensed by the state in which the school zone is located, where state law requires verification of qualification before the license issues. A Kentucky permitless carrier holds no such license.
That exception has a hard Kentucky-side edge: a CCDW license does not open school property itself. KRS 237.110(16)(f) provides that no license authorizes carrying a concealed firearm into any elementary or secondary school facility without the consent of school authorities as provided in KRS 527.070. Under KRS 527.070(1), knowingly possessing or carrying a weapon, openly or concealed, on school buildings, buses, campuses, grounds, or athletic fields is unlawful possession of a weapon on school property, a Class D felony under KRS 527.070(4). KRS 527.070(3)(a) exempts an adult who is not a pupil of any secondary school if the firearm stays inside the vehicle and is not removed or brandished. KRS 527.070 does not reach postsecondary institutions.
Standard license fees are sixty dollars on paper and seventy dollars electronically. See Fees and Costs.
Kentucky also has license classes with broader carry rights, which is why the uniform-location rule above covers only the general-public routes. Under KRS 527.020(5)(a), Commonwealth's and county attorneys, justices and judges of the Court of Justice, their retired counterparts, and retired peace officers licensed under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. 926C, and KRS 237.138 to 237.142, may carry at all times and at all locations within the Commonwealth, without any limitation other than as provided in that subsection. KSP issues these as "Judicial Special Status" licenses. KRS 527.020(6)(a) does the same for elected sheriffs, certified deputies, jailers, and certain corrections personnel when expressly authorized by the employing government. Both stop at a detention facility as defined in KRS 520.010 absent permission from the person in charge. Permit Basics carries the detail.
KRS 65.870(1) bars every city, county, urban-county, charter county, consolidated or unified local government, special district, and local or regional public agency, along with anyone acting under their authority, from occupying any part of the field of regulation of firearms, ammunition, components, or accessories, including manufacture, sale, purchase, taxation, transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, storage, and transportation. Subsection (2) declares any conflicting ordinance, order, regulation, policy, or rule null, void, and unenforceable. Subsection (4) creates a private right of action for declaratory and injunctive relief and directs the court to award the prevailing party attorney's fees, costs, and expert witness fees. Effective July 12, 2012.
KRS 237.115 is the carve-out. Subsection (1) preserves the right of a college, university, or any postsecondary education facility, including technical schools and community colleges, to control possession of deadly weapons on any property they own or control, and the right of a unit of state, city, county, urban-county, or charter county government to prohibit concealed carry in that portion of a building actually owned, leased, or occupied by that unit. Subsection (2) conditions the government side: the restricted portion must be clearly identified by signs at the entrance, and the measure shall not specify any criminal penalty. The permitted responses are denial of entrance, an order to leave, and employee discipline. Subsection (3) adds that unless the Kentucky Revised Statutes or federal law specifically provide otherwise, no criminal penalty attaches to carrying concealed anywhere an unconcealed weapon may be constitutionally carried.
KRS 237.104 bars any person, unit of government, or governmental organization, during a disaster or emergency under KRS Chapter 39A or at any other time, from impairing the right to purchase, transfer, loan, own, possess, carry, or use a firearm, firearm part, ammunition, or any deadly weapon, and from seizing, confiscating, or impounding one. Subsection (3) excepts takings from persons forbidden to possess a firearm under KRS 527.040 or federal law, persons violating KRS 527.020, persons holding a stolen firearm, and persons using a firearm in another criminal offense.
KRS 237.110(20)(a) provides that a person who is not a resident of Kentucky and who holds a valid license issued by another state may, subject to provisions of Kentucky law, carry a concealed deadly weapon in Kentucky, and that license shall be considered valid here. No agreement with the issuing state is required, and KSP dates its recognition of other states' licenses to July 15, 1998. "Subject to provisions of Kentucky law" means Kentucky's place restrictions and carry rules apply to the visitor.
A visitor 21 or older may not need that provision at all, since KRS 237.109 carries no residency condition. New residents get a bridge rather than permanent recognition: under KRS 237.110(20)(b) through (d), a license from a state holding a reciprocity agreement with KSP stays valid for the first 120 days of Kentucky residency if the person mails the KSP form and required documents within 60 days of moving.
Kentucky pairs its justification statutes with an immunity provision that belongs in any orientation to the state. KRS 503.085(1) provides that a person who uses force as permitted in KRS 503.050, 503.055, 503.070, and 503.080 is justified in using that force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action, unless the person against whom force was used is a peace officer as defined in KRS 446.010 acting in the performance of official duties who identified himself or herself as required, or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known the person was a peace officer. The section defines "criminal prosecution" to include arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting, and subsection (2) bars an agency from arresting absent probable cause that the force was unlawful. Use of Force and Castle Doctrine work through the underlying justification statutes.
Under KRS 527.020(1), 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 that section. As amended effective July 15, 2024, the grading sits at KRS 527.020(10): a Class A misdemeanor, or a Class D felony if the defendant has a prior felony conviction in which a deadly weapon was possessed, used, or displayed. "Deadly weapon" is defined at KRS 500.080(4) and reaches beyond firearms to any knife other than an ordinary pocket or hunting knife, a billy, nightstick, or club, a blackjack, nunchaku, a shuriken, and artificial knuckles.
KRS 237.110(15) requires a licensee to carry the license whenever carrying concealed and to display it on an officer's request. Violation is a noncriminal violation with a twenty-five dollar penalty and no court costs.
Verify current requirements with the Kentucky State Police CCDW Section before relying on any summary, including this one.
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| KRS 65.870 | Local firearms control ordinances prohibited |
| KRS 237.104 | Weapon rights not to be impaired; seizure prohibited |
| KRS 237.109 | Carrying concealed without a license, age 21 and up |
| KRS 237.110 | Standard CCDW license: criteria, prohibitions, reciprocity |
| KRS 237.115 | Postsecondary and local government authority to restrict |
| KRS 237.118 | Provisional license for ages 18 to 20 |
| KRS 237.138 to 237.142 | Retired peace officer license under the federal LEOSA |
| KRS 500.080 | Penal code definitions, including deadly weapon |
| KRS 503.085 | Justification and criminal and civil immunity for permitted force |
| KRS 520.010 | Detention facility definition |
| KRS 527.020 | Carrying a concealed deadly weapon; exemptions and penalties |
| KRS 527.040 | Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon |
| KRS 527.070 | Unlawful possession of a weapon on school property |
| 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 10 | Created KRS 237.109, effective June 27, 2019 |
| 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 173 (HB 312) | Created KRS 237.118, effective July 15, 2026 |
| 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(26), 922(q), 924(a)(4) | Federal gun free school zones and penalty |
| 18 U.S.C. 922(t)(3) | Permit alternative to a NICS check |
| 18 U.S.C. 926C | Federal LEOSA retired officer carry |
This page covers one part of our Kentucky concealed carry guide.
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