Nevada has no statewide permit office. Under NRS 202.3657(1) you apply "to the sheriff of the county in which he or she resides," and every step after...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Nevada has no statewide permit office. Under NRS 202.3657(1) you apply "to the sheriff of the county in which he or she resides," and every step after that runs through that sheriff: the fingerprints, the investigation, the decision, the card itself. The Department of Public Safety, which NRS 202.3653(2) defines as the "Department," prescribes the application form by regulation. It does not take your application.
That decides how to read everything below. The statute binds every county, but the counter is county property, and the counter is where the appointment system, the checklist, and the dollar figures live. What follows gives the statutory rule first, then Washoe County as one named example of a county layer. Nothing labeled Washoe is a statewide rule.
NRS 202.3657(1) treats residents and non-residents differently. A Nevada resident "may apply to the sheriff of the county in which he or she resides," meaning your county of residence, not a county of your choosing. A person "who is not a resident of this State may apply to the sheriff of any county in this State," so Nevada issues to non-residents and a non-resident picks the county. Every sheriff must supply the paperwork: "Application forms for permits must be furnished by the sheriff of each county upon request."
One application covers your whole safe. NRS 202.3657(2) lets an applicant "submit one application and obtain one permit to carry all handguns owned by the person," bars any requirement to "list and identify on the application each handgun," and makes the permit "valid for any handgun which is owned or thereafter obtained." Washoe restates it in a line: "CCW Permit Holders are eligible to carry any handgun."
NRS 202.3657(7) is the checklist, and it opens with a formality that catches people. The application "must be completed and signed under oath by the applicant," and the signature "must be witnessed by an employee of the sheriff or notarized by a notary public." It then requires:
Read (b) and (c) with the witnessing requirement, but read them separately. The fingerprints and the photograph must be taken by the sheriff or the sheriff's agent. The signature has two paths: witnessed by an employee of the sheriff, or notarized by a notary public. A notary is not the sheriff's agent, so the signature alone can be handled away from the counter. The prints and the photograph cannot, which is why no county can make this fully remote. And note that only one of the two fees is the sheriff's. Item (g) is a pass-through; item (h) is the sheriff's own charge, capped. NRS 202.368 sends both to the county treasurer. See FEES_COSTS.
NRS 202.3657(3)(c) makes competence a document you hand over, not a test the sheriff gives. You demonstrate it "by presenting a certificate or other documentation to the sheriff" showing you completed a firearm safety course "approved by a sheriff in this State," or one offered by a law enforcement agency, community college, university, "or national organization that certifies instructors in firearm safety." The course "must include instruction in the use of handguns and in the laws of this State relating to the use of a firearm," and a sheriff may not approve one unless it meets standards set by the Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association or its legal successor. The statute puts no expiration date on the certificate. A sheriff may. Washoe does, at 12 months. See TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS.
NRS 202.366(1) tells the sheriff what to do when the application lands. The sheriff "shall conduct an investigation of the applicant to determine if the applicant is eligible," and "shall forward a complete set of the applicant's fingerprints to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its report concerning the criminal history of the applicant." The investigation "also must include a report from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System," defined at NRS 202.366(5) as the system created by the federal Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Public Law 103-159. Two record checks, then, not one.
Then the shall-issue command: the sheriff "shall issue a permit to the applicant unless the applicant is not qualified to possess a handgun pursuant to state or federal law or is not otherwise qualified to obtain a permit" under the concealed firearm sections. NRS 202.3657(3) says it from the other side. Discretion is confined to the grounds the statute lists.
NRS 202.366(3) sets the only processing deadline in the chapter: "Within 120 days after a complete application for a permit is submitted, the sheriff to whom the application is submitted shall grant or deny the application."
The load-bearing word is "complete." A missing certificate or an unsigned waiver does not start the clock at all. Washoe's information packet puts the consequence plainly: "Incomplete applications cannot be processed." Nor does anything bridge the wait as of right. NRS 202.3687(1) permits, without requiring, a sheriff to issue a temporary permit, so whether your county offers one is that county's answer.
On approval, NRS 202.366(3) requires a permit "containing a colored photograph of the applicant," and the statute prints the card's fields down to height and weight. Under NRS 202.366(4), "[u]nless suspended or revoked by the sheriff who issued the permit, a permit expires 5 years after the date on which it is issued."
A denial must be reasoned: "If the application is denied, the sheriff shall send the applicant written notification setting forth the reasons for the denial." That statement is what you appeal from. NRS 202.3663 supplies the appeal, by "filing a petition in the district court for the county in which the applicant filed the application," and the scope is narrow. Review "must be limited to a determination of whether the denial was arbitrary, capricious or otherwise characterized by an abuse of discretion," under chapter 233B of NRS. Not a second look at whether you deserve a permit. A look at whether the sheriff's reasons hold up.
Either way the file stays closed, and the confidentiality statute splits across three subsections. NRS 202.3662(1) opens "Except as otherwise provided in this section and NRS 202.3665 and 239.0115," then makes confidential the application and all information in it, all information provided to or obtained by the sheriff in the investigation of an applicant or permittee, the identity of the permittee, and, at (1)(d), "[a]ny records regarding the suspension, restoration or revocation of a permit." NRS 202.3662(2) is the law enforcement release: records regarding an applicant or permittee "may be released to a law enforcement agency for the purpose of conducting an investigation or prosecution." NRS 202.3662(3) is the statistical release: statistical abstracts of a sheriff's permit data, "including, but not limited to, the number of applications received and permits issued, may be released to any person."
NRS 202.3657(3) sets the affirmative bar: 21 or older, or 18 to 20 with qualifying military service; not prohibited from possessing a firearm under NRS 202.360; and the competence documentation above. NRS 202.3657(4) then lists twelve grounds on which the sheriff "shall deny an application or revoke a permit," running from an outstanding warrant and a felony conviction through a current order for protection against high-risk behavior under NRS 33.570 or 33.580 to "a false statement on any application for a permit or for the renewal of a permit." PERMIT_BASICS and RESTRICTIONS carry that list in full.
Two adjacent provisions are easy to miss. NRS 202.3657(5) lets a sheriff deny or revoke on a sworn affidavit "stating articulable facts based upon personal knowledge" from any natural person 18 or older, but the affidavit has to allege something specific: that the applicant or permittee "has or may have committed an offense or engaged in any other activity specified in subsection 4 which would preclude the issuance of a permit" or require revocation. The subsection 4 list is the boundary.
NRS 202.3657(6) freezes a pending application, and the trigger is formal notification rather than the sheriff's own knowledge. It runs "[i]f the sheriff receives notification submitted by a court or law enforcement agency of this or any other state, the United States or a territory or possession of the United States" that an applicant or permittee "has been charged with a crime involving the use or threatened use of force or violence, the conviction for which would require the revocation of a permit or preclude the issuance of a permit." A charge that would not carry that consequence does not trip the provision.
What happens next depends on whether you hold a permit or are waiting on one. A pending application has its processing suspended "until the final disposition of the charges," and on acquittal or dropped charges the sheriff resumes processing it, which NRS 202.3665(1)(a)(2) describes as having "[r]esumed the processing of the application following the dropping of charges against the applicant or the acquittal of the applicant." The fee sentence is about permits, not applications: "If a permittee is acquitted of the charges, or if the charges are dropped, the sheriff shall restore his or her permit without imposing a fee."
NRS 202.3665 is the operative companion to that suspension, and it points outward. When a sheriff suspends the processing of an application, resumes it, or denies the application because the applicant was convicted of such a crime, the sheriff "shall notify any victim of the crime" of the action taken. Under NRS 202.3665(3), that notice must go out "not later than 10 days after the date on which the sheriff performs one of the actions listed in subsection 1 or 2."
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office publishes a CCW page, a fee schedule, and a CCW Information Packet. Attributed, so you can see the shape of a county layer without mistaking it for state law:
None of this transfers. Another county may use a different portal or none, may set a different training window or none, and sets its own fee within the $60 cap. Ask your sheriff. Note too that the Washoe page attaches the 120-day figure to a statute number that is not where the deadline lives. The deadline is NRS 202.366(3).
NRS 202.3677(1) sends a renewal back to "the sheriff who issued the permit" and back through the NRS 202.366 investigation. The application must be signed under oath, state that the applicant is eligible under NRS 202.3657, and carry the Central Repository and FBI fee plus "a nonrefundable fee of $25," with "an additional nonrefundable late fee of $15" from a permittee who "fails to renew his or her permit on or before the date of expiration." Under NRS 202.3677(3), no permit renews unless the permittee "has demonstrated continued competence with handguns by successfully completing a course prescribed by the sheriff renewing the permit," which makes the renewal course a county specification. Washoe adds an outer limit the statute does not state: fail to renew "within 120 days of the expiration of the permit" and "you will have to re-apply as a new applicant." See RENEWAL_PROCESS.
| Belief | Reality |
|---|---|
| Nevada has a state CCW application | You apply to a county sheriff, NRS 202.3657(1). The Department only prescribes the form |
| I can apply in whichever county is fastest | A resident applies in the county of residence. Only a non-resident picks, and Nevada does issue to non-residents |
| I have to list each handgun on the application | One application, one permit, every handgun owned or later obtained, NRS 202.3657(2) |
| The sheriff has 120 days from when I send the form | 120 days from a complete application, NRS 202.366(3) |
| The fee is capped at $60 total | $60 caps the sheriff's fee. The Central Repository and FBI fee is separate |
| A denial is final | NRS 202.3663 allows district court review for abuse of discretion |
| My training certificate never goes stale | The statute sets no expiration. A sheriff may, as Washoe does at 12 months |
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| NRS 202.3653, NRS 202.360 | Definitions; prohibited possessors |
| NRS 202.3657 | Where to apply, eligibility, application contents, denial grounds, fees |
| NRS 202.366 | Investigation, fingerprints, NICS, 120-day deadline, issuance, 5-year term |
| NRS 202.3662, NRS 202.3663 | Confidentiality; judicial review of a denial |
| NRS 202.3665 | Sheriff's duties on notice of a force or violence charge; victim notification |
| NRS 202.3677 | Renewal application, fees, continued competence |
| NRS 202.368, NRS 202.3687 | Deposit of fees; temporary permits |
The statute gives you the spine and the deadline. The county gives you the appointment, the checklist, and the number on the check. Read NRS 202.3657 and 202.366 before you go, then call your sheriff for the rest.
This page covers one part of our Nevada concealed carry guide.
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