Nevada is a shall-issue state for concealed firearm permits. A permit is required to carry a concealed handgun, county sheriffs issue the permits, and...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Nevada is a shall-issue state for concealed firearm permits. A permit is required to carry a concealed handgun, county sheriffs issue the permits, and the Nevada Department of Public Safety prescribes the application form and maintains the list of out-of-state permits Nevada recognizes. This overview walks the controlling statutes so you can see where each rule comes from.
The controlling prohibition is NRS 202.350. Subsection 1(d) says that except as otherwise provided in that section and in NRS 202.3653 to 202.369, inclusive, a person within Nevada shall not carry concealed upon his or her person any explosive substance other than ammunition or its components, any machete, or any "pistol, revolver or other firearm, other dangerous or deadly weapon or pneumatic gun."
The grading matters. Under NRS 202.350(2)(b), carrying a concealed pistol, revolver or other firearm without the authority the permit statutes supply is a category C felony, punished as provided in NRS 193.130. The machete branch is graded under NRS 202.350(2)(a) as a gross misdemeanor for a first offense and a category D felony for any subsequent offense. NRS 202.350(8)(a) defines "concealed weapon" as a weapon described in the section that is carried upon a person in such a manner as not to be discernible by ordinary observation.
NRS 202.350(4) exempts several categories of officers and on-duty military personnel, and subsection 7 preserves carry by a qualified law enforcement officer or qualified retired law enforcement officer authorized under 18 U.S.C. 926B or 926C. Note the limit in NRS 202.350(5): the subsection 4 exemptions do not include a former peace officer who is retired for disability unless his or her former employer has approved his or her fitness to carry a concealed weapon.
One point in NRS 202.350 is easy to misread. Subsection 3 lets a county sheriff issue a permit for a concealed weapon described in the permit, but it then says it does not authorize the sheriff to issue a permit to carry a pistol, revolver or other firearm. Concealed handgun authority comes only from the permit family in NRS 202.3653 to 202.369.
NRS 202.3653 supplies the vocabulary. "Concealed firearm" means a loaded or unloaded handgun carried upon a person in such a manner as not to be discernible by ordinary observation. "Handgun" takes the meaning given in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(30). "Department" means the Department of Public Safety. The definition covers a handgun, loaded or unloaded, and does not reach long guns.
That gap is worth naming plainly. The offense in NRS 202.350(1)(d)(3) reaches any pistol, revolver or other firearm, but NRS 202.3653(1) and (3) limit both the permit and the defined term "concealed firearm" to a handgun. Carrying a concealed rifle or shotgun is therefore a category C felony under NRS 202.350(2)(b) that no Nevada permit can authorize.
NRS 202.3657(1) sets the filing rule. A Nevada resident applies to the sheriff of the county in which he or she resides. A person who is not a resident may apply to the sheriff of any county in Nevada.
NRS 202.3657(3) is the shall-issue command. Except as otherwise provided in that section, the sheriff shall issue a permit to any person who is qualified to possess a handgun under state and federal law, who submits a conforming application, and who meets three conditions:
The statute constrains the course itself. It must include instruction in the use of handguns and in Nevada law relating to the use of a firearm, and a sheriff may not approve a course unless it meets any standards established by the Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association or its legal successor.
NRS 202.3657(2) states the rule plainly: a person applying for a permit may submit one application and obtain one permit to carry all handguns owned by the person, the person must not be required to list and identify each handgun owned on the application, and the permit is valid for any handgun owned or later obtained by the permittee. If you come across older material describing a separate qualification for each handgun, compare it against the current text of NRS 202.3657(2) before relying on it.
NRS 202.3657(4) directs the sheriff to deny an application or revoke a permit on a determination that the applicant or permittee has an outstanding arrest warrant, has been judicially declared incompetent or insane, has been admitted to a mental health facility during the immediately preceding 5 years, or has habitually used intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance to the extent that normal faculties are impaired. That last ground is presumed from a conviction under NRS 484C.110 or participation in a treatment program under NRS 176A.230 to 176A.245 in the immediately preceding 5 years.
The same subsection also reaches a misdemeanor conviction for a crime involving the use or threatened use of force or violence within the immediately preceding 3 years, any felony conviction, a conviction for domestic violence or stalking or a current order for protection against domestic violence, a current emergency or extended order for protection against high-risk behavior under NRS 33.570 or NRS 33.580, current parole or probation status, and a false statement on any permit or renewal application.
NRS 202.3657(5) adds discretion on top of those mandatory grounds. The sheriff may deny an application or revoke a permit if the sheriff receives a sworn affidavit stating articulable facts based upon personal knowledge, from any natural person who is 18 years of age or older, that the applicant or permittee has or may have committed an offense or engaged in any other activity specified in subsection 4. That is the one discretionary opening in an otherwise shall-issue framework.
Under NRS 202.3657(6), notification that an applicant or permittee has been charged with a qualifying force or violence crime requires the sheriff to suspend the permit or the processing of the application until final disposition. If the permittee is acquitted or the charges are dropped, the sheriff shall restore the permit without a fee.
NRS 202.3657(7) requires the application to be signed under oath, witnessed by an employee of the sheriff or notarized, and to include identifying information, a complete set of fingerprints and a front-view colored photograph both taken by the sheriff or the sheriff's agent, and a driver's license or identification card number. Two nonrefundable fees attach: one equal to the nonvolunteer rate charged for the criminal history reports required under NRS 202.366(1), and one set by the sheriff not to exceed $60.
NRS 202.366(1) requires the sheriff, on receiving an application or a renewal application, to investigate eligibility, forward the fingerprints to the Central Repository for submission to the FBI for a criminal history report, and include a report from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The sheriff shall issue the permit unless the applicant is not qualified to possess a handgun under state or federal law or is not otherwise qualified under NRS 202.3653 to 202.369.
NRS 202.366(3) sets the deadline: within 120 days after a complete application is submitted, the sheriff shall grant or deny it, and a denial requires written notification setting forth the reasons. NRS 202.366(4) sets the term: unless suspended or revoked by the issuing sheriff, a permit expires 5 years after the date it is issued.
If an application is denied, NRS 202.3663 allows the applicant to petition the district court for the county where the application was filed. That review is limited to whether the denial was arbitrary, capricious or otherwise characterized by an abuse of discretion.
Permit records are confidential under NRS 202.3662, including the application, information the sheriff obtains during the investigation, the identity of the permittee, and records of suspension, restoration or revocation.
NRS 202.3667(1) requires a permittee to carry the permit, or a duplicate issued under NRS 202.367, together with proper identification whenever the permittee is in actual possession of a concealed firearm, and to present both if requested by a peace officer. A violation carries a civil penalty of $25. NRS 202.367 requires written notice to the issuing sheriff within 30 days if the permittee's permanent address changes or the permit is lost, stolen or destroyed. Under NRS 202.367(4), a permittee who fails to notify the sheriff as that section requires is subject to a civil penalty of $25.
Under NRS 202.3677, a permittee who wishes to renew must submit a renewal application to the issuing sheriff and undergo the NRS 202.366 investigation again. The application must state that the applicant is eligible under NRS 202.3657 and carry the background report fee plus a nonrefundable $25 fee, and renewing after the expiration date adds a late fee of $15. NRS 202.3677(3) bars renewal unless the permittee has demonstrated continued competence with handguns by completing a course prescribed by the renewing sheriff.
NRS 202.3673(1) lets a permittee carry a concealed firearm on the premises of a public building, subject to two carve-outs. Subsection 2 bars carry in a public building located on the property of a public airport. Paragraph (a) of subsection 3 bars carry in a public building located on the property of a public school, a child care facility or the Nevada System of Higher Education, unless the permittee has obtained written permission under subparagraph (3) of paragraph (a) of subsection 3 of NRS 202.265. Paragraph (b) of subsection 3 bars carry in a public building that has a metal detector at each public entrance, or a sign posted at each public entrance indicating that no firearms are allowed in the building.
The exceptions in subsection 4 are narrower than they first read. The statute opens them with "The provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection 3 do not prohibit," so they reach only the metal detector and posted no-firearms buildings in paragraph (b). They do not apply to subsection 2, the public airport property rule, and they do not apply to paragraph (a) of subsection 3, the public school, child care facility and NSHE property rule, where written permission under NRS 202.265 is the only relief. Within paragraph (b), subsection 4 does not prohibit a permittee who is a judge from carrying in the courthouse or courtroom in which the judge presides, or from authorizing a permittee to carry a concealed firearm while in that judge's courtroom and while traveling to and from that courtroom. It also does not prohibit a permittee who is a prosecuting attorney of an agency or political subdivision of the United States or of this State, a permittee who is employed in the public building, or a permittee who has received written permission from the person in control of the public building. A violation of subsection 2 or 3 is a misdemeanor.
The term doing the work here is defined. NRS 202.3673(6)(b) says "public building" means any building or office space occupied by any component of the Nevada System of Higher Education and used for any purpose related to the System, or by the Federal Government, the State of Nevada or any county, city, school district or other political subdivision of the State of Nevada and used for any public purpose. If only part of the building is occupied by such an entity, the term means only that portion of the building which is so occupied.
School and child care property has its own rule. NRS 202.265(1) prohibits carrying or possessing a pistol, revolver or other firearm, among other listed weapons, on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education, a private or public school, or a child care facility, or in a vehicle of such a school or facility. A violation is a gross misdemeanor.
The exceptions in NRS 202.265(3) do not run evenly across those three property types. Paragraph (a) covers possession on the property of a private or public school or child care facility by a peace officer, a school security guard, or a person having written permission from the president of a branch or facility of the Nevada System of Higher Education, the principal of the school, or the person designated by a child care facility to give permission. Only that third branch, written permission, names an NSHE official, so the peace officer and school security guard branches are keyed to school and child care property rather than to NSHE property. Paragraph (b) covers a child care facility located at or in the home of a natural person, by the person who owns or operates the facility, so long as that person resides in the home and complies with any laws governing possession of such a weapon. Under subsection 4, the section applies to a home-based child care facility only during the normal hours of business of the facility.
Impairment is its own offense. NRS 202.257(1) makes it unlawful to have a firearm in actual physical possession while at a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or under the influence of a controlled substance or a combination that renders the person incapable of safely exercising actual physical control of a firearm. It does not apply to a person within his or her personal residence holding the firearm solely for self-defense. A violation is a misdemeanor.
NRS 202.360(1) bars firearm ownership, possession, custody or control by a person convicted of battery constituting domestic violence under NRS 200.485 against the listed family and dating relationships, convicted of a felony without a pardon that leaves the right to bear arms intact, currently subject to an extended order for protection against domestic violence that includes a firearm prohibition, a fugitive from justice, an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, or otherwise prohibited by federal law. A violation is a category B felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 6 years, and the person may be further punished by a fine of not more than $5,000.
NRS 202.3689 directs the Department of Public Safety, on or before July 1 of each year, to determine whether each state requires training before issuing a concealed firearm permit and whether each state maintains an electronic database of its permit holders that a Nevada law enforcement officer can access at all times through a national law enforcement telecommunications system. The Department prepares a list of the states meeting both requirements and makes it available to the public on request.
NRS 202.3688(1) then allows a person holding a permit issued by a listed state to carry a concealed firearm in Nevada in accordance with the requirements of NRS 202.3653 to 202.369. Subsection 2 closes the door for a new resident: that authority ends if the person becomes a Nevada resident and has not been issued a permit by the sheriff of the county of residence within 60 days.
The Records, Communications and Compliance Division publishes the list. The version effective July 1, 2026 names 28 states and qualifies four of them by permit class: Idaho enhanced permits, Mississippi enhanced permits, North Dakota Class 1 permits, and South Dakota enhanced permits. Because the list is redetermined annually, check the current version before traveling on an out-of-state permit.
Nevada preempts local firearm regulation through two parallel statutes: NRS 268.418 for cities and NRS 244.364 for counties. Both declare that regulation of the transfer, sale, purchase, possession, carrying, ownership, transportation, storage, registration and licensing of firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition is within the exclusive domain of the Legislature, and that any contrary ordinance is null and void. Both leave local governing bodies the power to proscribe the unsafe discharge of firearms.
The point here is structural rather than permissive. The offense in NRS 202.350 reaches a weapon carried in such a manner as not to be discernible by ordinary observation, and the permit family in NRS 202.3653 to 202.369 is written around a "concealed firearm," defined the same way. Carrying openly falls outside both. The location rules still apply on their own terms, including NRS 202.265 and NRS 202.257.
Applications, fingerprinting appointments and the county fee schedule come from the sheriff of the county where you live, or from any Nevada county sheriff if you are not a resident. The recognition list comes from the Records, Communications and Compliance Division of the Department of Public Safety. This overview describes the statutes as written and is general information, not legal advice.
This page covers one part of our Nevada concealed carry guide.
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