Gun shop Fort Smith, Arkansas

How buying a gun in Fort Smith works

Pick an FFL dealer near you that accepts shipped transfers and name it at checkout. We confirm their license and ship the firearm to them. Ammunition, optics and parts ship straight to your door where Arkansas law allows.

Arkansas has no permit to purchase, no firearm registration and no state waiting period. At a licensed dealer you show photo ID, fill out ATF Form 4473 and the dealer runs a federal NICS background check; if the check clears you take the gun the same day. Federal law sets the dealer minimum at 18 for rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns. Private sales between two Arkansas residents need no state background check, but it is still a crime to hand a firearm to someone you know cannot legally have one.

Dealers in these communities all work for Fort Smith-area buyers:

• Greenwood
• Barling
• Van Buren
• Alma
• Bonanza
• Hackett
• Lavaca
• Charleston
• Mansfield

Carrying a gun in Sebastian County

Arkansas does not require a license to carry a handgun, openly or concealed, if you may legally have one. Act 746 of 2013 rewrote the carrying-a-weapon statute so that carrying is an offense only with a purpose to unlawfully employ the weapon, and Act 777 of 2023 wrote into the law that a license is not required to carry a concealed handgun. The Concealed Handgun Carry License is still issued by the Arkansas State Police, and many people keep one for reciprocity in other states and for the enhanced endorsement. Courthouses, jails, schools, government meetings, airport terminals and posted places stay off-limits.

Hunting near Fort Smith

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission splits the state into deer zones, and dates change with the zone. For 2026-27 most zones opened modern gun on November 14, 2026, with a statewide Christmas hunt December 26 to 28; Faulkner County sits in Zone 8, where modern gun ran November 14 to December 6. Archery in Zone 8 runs September 26, 2026 to February 28, 2027, with alternative firearms October 17 to 25 and December 12 to 14. Any legal rifle, shotgun, handgun or muzzleloader may be used in modern gun season. Check the current zone map for your Sebastian County dates and antler rules.

The Arkansas River and the Ozark National Forest east of town both offer hunting, and Fort Chaffee ground is managed with public access under its own rules. The Brushy Hollow and Buck Ridge forest ranges are both within an hour.

Fort Chaffee, the Arkansas River and the Ouachita and Ozark national forests within an hour give the area more public ground than most Arkansas cities.

Public shooting ranges near Fort Smith

Arkansas has real public shooting: the Game and Fish Commission runs or partners on a handful of staffed ranges, and the Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis National Forests keep free, unstaffed ranges open sunrise to sunset. A hunting license is not needed to shoot at them, but AGFC ranges charge a small per-person or per-round fee and the forest ranges post their own rules at the gate.