Gun Laws by State: Every Compliance Question a Collector Actually Needs Answered

Federal law is the floor. State law is what gets you in trouble. This guide explains how state firearm regulation actually works for collectors — the five categories, the rules that change at state lines, what happens when an heir lives somewhere else, and how to know what applies to you without paying a lawyer for every question.

Why state law matters more than most collectors realize

Most firearm owners think about federal law: ATF, GCA, NFA. Federal rules are uniform across the country and easy to find. State law is where compliance actually breaks down. Two collectors can buy the same rifle on the same day, and depending on where they live, one of them ends up in a legal gray zone while the other one doesn’t.

State law decides whether you need a permit before you buy, how many rounds your magazine can hold, whether a private sale needs a background check, how a transfer to a family member works, what counts as an “assault weapon,” whether your wife can possess your firearms when you’re traveling, and what your heirs have to do when you die. None of that is in federal law. All of it changes at the state border.

For collectors with firearms in multiple jurisdictions, heirs in different states, or NFA items that bring their own complications, this isn’t an academic question. It’s the difference between a clean estate and a six-month delay while your executor figures out what your son in California is actually allowed to receive.

The five categories of state firearm regulation

State firearm laws cluster into five distinct regulatory styles. Knowing which category your state falls into tells you 80% of what you need to know before reading any specific statute.

Many states fall into more than one category at once. California, for instance, is restrictive (AW ban + 10-round mag limit) AND registration (AW registry) AND has roster requirements for handgun purchases (a sixth-category complication). New York stacks SAFE Act registration on top of permit requirements on top of mag limits.

The Lookup tool below sorts every state into the categories that matter for collectors.

Look up your state in 10 seconds

How federal law and state law actually interact

Federal firearms law (the GCA, NFA, and related statutes) establishes a floor — a minimum set of rules that apply everywhere. States cannot go below that floor. They can absolutely go above it.

This matters in three specific situations:

Interstate transfer

Federal law requires that any transfer of a firearm to a resident of another state must go through a licensed dealer (FFL) in the buyer’s state. This is non-negotiable, applies to inheritance, private sale, gift — anything. Even when the destination state would otherwise allow a direct private transfer, the federal rule still applies because you’re crossing the state line.

Practical impact: if your out-of-state heir wants to receive your rifle after you die, the rifle ships from your local FFL to an FFL near them, they go through a 4473 form (and any state-specific paperwork) at the destination, then take possession. This applies even between two permissive states — it’s a federal floor, not a state rule. See our detailed walkthrough on out-of-state heir transfers and non-resident temporary possession.

NFA items

National Firearms Act items — suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, machine guns, AOWs — are governed by federal law. Some states ban specific categories anyway (e.g., suppressors prohibited in HI, CA, IL, NJ, NY, RI, MA, DE). Even if you legally own an NFA item under federal law, you cannot move it into a banning state without losing it. Most NFA collectors solve this with a properly drafted NFA gun trust, which simplifies both ownership and inheritance.

Out-of-state purchases

You can buy long guns in person from any FFL in any state, as long as the sale would be legal in both your home state and the state of purchase. Handguns must go to an FFL in your home state. This is why a Texas resident buying a handgun at a Florida gun show pays the dealer to ship it to a Texas FFL for pickup.

Inheritance across state lines: the rule almost everyone gets wrong

“My will leaves all my guns to my son” sounds like it solves the problem. It doesn’t, if the son lives in a state with stricter rules than yours.

Three real scenarios we see constantly:

Scenario 1: Florida father, California son. Dad has a 30-gun collection in Florida (permissive state). Son lives in California (restrictive). When dad dies, son cannot drive to Florida and take the guns home. The collection must be inventoried, an FFL must be designated to receive whichever firearms can legally be transferred to California (some of the AR-platform rifles likely can’t enter CA at all), and a separate plan must be made for the items that can’t make the trip — usually sale or transfer to another heir. The Florida non-resident heir playbook walks through the exact sequence.

Scenario 2: Permit lapses. Illinois requires a FOID card for any firearm possession. If your heir’s FOID has expired or was never obtained, they cannot legally take possession until they get one — which can take months. The executor holds the collection in legal limbo. See Illinois FOID renewal and heir transfer for the practical timeline.

Scenario 3: Prohibited successor. Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)) prohibits certain people from possessing firearms — felons, those under domestic violence orders, those adjudicated mentally ill, those who have renounced citizenship, others. If your most natural heir falls into one of these categories, the firearms cannot legally transfer to them. Your estate plan needs an explicit alternate beneficiary or a sale provision.

State-by-state quick reference

Tap any state below to see our deep-dive collector compliance guide. Posts cover registration, storage requirements, transfer rules, and heir-routing specifics for that state. Want the at-a-glance version? The State Lookup tool covers all 50 states + DC.

The compliance themes that show up everywhere

Six themes recur across state-by-state variations. If you understand these, you can navigate most state-specific rules without needing to memorize statutes.

• Magazine capacity limits. The most common state-specific rule. 10 rounds is the most common cap (CA, NY, NJ, CT, MA, HI, MD, WA). Colorado uses 15. Delaware uses 17. Most states have no limit. Travel across state lines with a non-compliant magazine and you’ve created a problem you didn’t intend. See the magazine capacity compliance map.
• Safe storage laws. Required by statute in CA, MA, NY, CT, NJ, MD, WA, DE, IL, OR, RI, MN, NV, NM. The specifics vary — sometimes locked container, sometimes locked when minors present, sometimes locked when prohibited persons present. Where storage non-compliance is criminal covers the specific statutory triggers.
• Universal background checks. Required for private sales in CA, CO, CT, DE, IL, MD (handguns), MA, MI (handguns), NV, NJ, NM, NY, OR, PA (handguns), RI, VA, WA. In all other states, federal law only requires checks at the FFL transfer — private sales between residents can be conducted directly.
• Waiting periods. Range from 0 (most states) to 14 days (Hawaii). California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington all have meaningful waits.
• Permit-to-purchase. Required in NJ, MA, IL, HI, NY (handguns), MI (handguns), MD (HQL for handguns), CT, RI, NC (handguns, repealed 2023), and now MN (handguns/AW). These permits gate the entire purchase process — you cannot legally buy a firearm without one.
• Assault weapon definitions. Every banning state defines “assault weapon” differently. A firearm legal in one state may be banned in the neighboring one because of feature-based definitions: pistol grip, threaded barrel, flash hider, adjustable stock, capacity. Moving a legal AR-15 from Texas to New Jersey turns it into a felony.

Common questions about state firearm law

If I move to a new state, do I have to register my collection?

Depends on the destination state. Most states do not require registration of imported collections. New York and California impose specific obligations for assault weapons. Hawaii requires registration of all firearms with county police. Illinois requires a FOID card before possession. Read moving with a collection: the 30-day window for the specifics.

Can I travel through a restrictive state with my legally-owned firearms?

The federal Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA, 18 U.S.C. § 926A) provides a “peaceable journey” exemption — if your firearms are legal in your origin state and your destination state, you can transport them through states that would otherwise prohibit them, provided they’re unloaded, in a locked container, and not readily accessible. Practical caveat: New York and New Jersey have enforced restrictive interpretations of FOPA. Read interstate transport compliance before driving through any restrictive state.

Does state law apply to gifts and family transfers?

Yes, in most states. Intra-family transfers are subject to universal background check requirements where they apply (some states have spouse/parent exceptions). Federal law treats family transfers within the same state as private sales — no FFL required as long as both parties are residents of the same state and federally eligible. Cross-state family transfers always require FFL routing.

What’s the difference between an NFA trust and a gun trust?

An NFA trust is specifically structured to hold National Firearms Act items (suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, machine guns, AOWs). A general gun trust can hold any firearms. NFA trusts are designed around the ATF Form 1/Form 4 process and the special trustee provisions that allow multiple people to legally possess the items. See single-shot trust vs. gun trust for the structural differences.

How Gun Vault makes state compliance automatic

Every firearm you add to Gun Vault gets tagged with the rules that apply to your state. When you log a transfer, the platform routes the paperwork through the correct sequence — universal background check, waiting period, AW registration, or simple FFL routing depending on jurisdiction. When you set up succession, beneficiaries get the state-specific routing instructions automatically. No more spreadsheets that don’t know which state the firearm is in.

About this guide. The information here is educational and general. State firearm law changes regularly and varies in ways that matter for specific situations — antique firearms, NFA items, complex inheritance, and similar cases often need a firearms attorney’s review. Always confirm current statutes with a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction before acting on a specific situation. Last updated May 2026.