Arkansas gun laws: a plain guide for buyers
Arkansas is one of the simplest states in the country in which to buy a firearm. There is no permit to purchase, no state registration, no waiting period, no magazine limit and no ban on semi-automatic rifles, and since 2013 the carrying statute has only reached people who carry a weapon with a purpose to use it unlawfully. That does not mean the state has no rules. This guide covers buying, owning, carrying and transporting firearms in Arkansas as it stands in September 2026. It is general information, not legal advice; when it matters, read the statute or talk to an Arkansas attorney.
Buying from a licensed dealer
Every firearm you order from us ships to a federally licensed dealer that you choose at checkout. At the counter you show a valid photo ID, complete ATF Form 4473 and the dealer runs a federal background check through the FBI system. Arkansas adds nothing on top: no purchase permit, no owner identification card, no state registry and no local paperwork. If the check comes back as proceed you can take the firearm home the same day.
Federal law sets the dealer minimum age at 18 for rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns, and the dealer applies it. If a check is delayed, federal rules let a dealer transfer after three business days, but most Arkansas dealers wait for a final answer instead, so ask your dealer what they do before you drive out.
Private sales
Arkansas does not require a background check when one Arkansas resident sells a firearm to another in a private sale. Three rules still apply:
- Prohibited buyers: it is a crime to sell or hand a firearm to someone you know cannot legally possess one.
- Minors: state law restricts selling or giving a handgun to a person under 18 outside narrow family and supervised-use exceptions.
- Out-of-state buyers: federal law requires a sale between residents of different states to go through a licensed dealer, which is exactly what an online order does.
Plenty of private sellers still meet at a dealer and pay for a transfer, because a paper trail protects both people in the deal.
Carrying a handgun
Act 746 of 2013 rewrote the carrying-a-weapon statute so that carrying is an offense only when a person has a purpose to unlawfully employ the weapon, and Act 777 of 2023 put it in plain words: a license to carry a concealed handgun is not required to carry a concealed handgun in Arkansas. The Concealed Handgun Carry License is still issued by the Arkansas State Police and is still worth having for travel and for the enhanced endorsement. The details, the training and the off-limits list are in our Arkansas concealed carry guide.
Where you cannot carry
Even without a license requirement, the prohibited-place list in the carry statutes still frames where a handgun is unwelcome: police stations and sheriff's offices, jails and detention facilities, courthouses and courtrooms, state offices and meetings of governmental bodies, school and university buildings and events, the secure side of an airport terminal, athletic events, places of worship that say no, bars, any place federal law bars firearms, and any private property whose owner has posted a notice. An enhanced license opens a few of these doors, but not all of them.
What Arkansas does not regulate
There is no assault weapon law, no magazine capacity limit, no ammunition permit and no state firearm registry in Arkansas. Standard-capacity magazines, threaded barrels, suppressor-ready rifles and ordinary semi-automatic sporting rifles are all sold here on the same paperwork as a bolt-action deer rifle.
Arkansas also preempts local gun rules. Under Arkansas Code 14-16-504, a city, town or county may not enact an ordinance about the ownership, transfer, transportation, carrying or possession of firearms, ammunition or firearm components, and it may not do so by emergency ordinance either. The one thing a city may still regulate is unsafe discharge inside town. That is why the rules in Conway, Little Rock, Fayetteville and Jonesboro are the same rules.
Transporting firearms
A firearm may be carried in a vehicle in Arkansas without a license, loaded or unloaded, as long as the carrier is not barred from having one and is not carrying it with unlawful intent. School parking lots and federal facilities are the usual exceptions, and a licensed carrier gets clearer footing in a few of them. If you cross into another state, that state's rules take over the moment you cross the line, and the federal safe-passage rule only protects an unloaded, locked firearm on a continuous trip between two places where you may legally have it.
Hunting and firearms
Hunting rules are set by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, not by the gun laws. In modern gun deer season any legal rifle, shotgun, handgun or muzzleloader may be used, while waterfowl hunting adds the federal non-toxic shot rule and a three-shell plug. Season structure, zones and rifle choices are covered in our deer and bear rifle guide and our duck hunting shotgun guide.
Buying online and shipping to an FFL
Ordering online does not change any of this. You choose a firearm in our catalog, pick a dealer, and we ship to that dealer. The background check, the form and the handover all happen at the counter, exactly as if you had bought the gun there. Ammunition, optics, holsters and most parts come straight to your door. Our Conway buying guide walks through it step by step, and the city pages cover the rest of the state.
The short version
No permit, no registration, no wait, no magazine limit, no local patchwork. Buy from a dealer, pass the check, follow the off-limits list when you carry, and read the current regulations before hunting season. Arkansas keeps the law simple and leaves the responsibility with you.
General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.
