Question 1

Is Vermont a constitutional carry state?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Vermont has no state law that requires a permit to carry; the carrying statute makes it a crime only to carry a dangerous or deadly weapon 'with the intent to injure another' (up to two years or $2,000, or a felony of up to 10 years or $25,000 if the person intends to injure multiple persons). No minimum carrying age is set by statute, but a child under 16 may not possess a pistol or revolver without a parent's or guardian's consent. People barred from possessing firearms (for example, those convicted of violent crimes, or subject to certain relief-from-abuse, stalking or extreme risk orders) may not carry.

Question 2

How do you get a concealed carry permit in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

Vermont has no state law that provides for a concealed carry permit or license. Carrying is lawful without one, subject to the intent-to-injure offense in § 4003 and the places and persons restricted by statute.

Question 3

Is open carry legal in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

Allowed without a permit for handguns and long guns, on the same terms as concealed carry: the statute bars carrying a dangerous or deadly weapon only with intent to injure another. A child under 16 may not possess a pistol or revolver without parental or guardian consent. Loaded rifles and shotguns may not be carried in a motor vehicle on a public highway right-of-way (see carry_in_car).

Question 4

How old do you have to be to buy a gun in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

A person may not sell a firearm to a person under 21 (up to one year or $1,000), except to a law enforcement officer; an active or veteran member of the Vermont National Guard, another state's National Guard or the U.S. Armed Forces; or a buyer who gives the seller a certificate of completing a Vermont-approved hunter safety course (or an approved course in another state or a Canadian province). Separately, anyone other than a parent or guardian who sells or furnishes a firearm, dangerous weapon or ammunition to a minor under 16 may be fined $10 to $50 (instructors furnishing firearms for instruction and drill are exempt), and a child under 16 may not possess a pistol or revolver without parental or guardian consent. These rules apply to private sellers as well as dealers.

Question 5

Do private gun sales need a background check in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

Yes, universal. An unlicensed person may not transfer (sell, trade or give) a firearm to another unlicensed person unless both appear together with the firearm before a licensed dealer who agrees to facilitate the transfer and runs it as if selling from its own inventory, including a background check; the dealer may charge a reasonable fee. Violations: up to one year or $500. Exempt: transfers to or by law enforcement agencies, officers or armed forces members on duty; transfers between immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild and step- and great- relations); and temporary transfers to prevent imminent harm. No permit to purchase is required.

Question 6

Is there a waiting period to buy a gun in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

72 hours, for all firearms that require a background check: a person may not transfer a firearm until 72 hours after the dealer receives a unique NICS identification number for the transfer, or until seven business days have passed since the dealer contacted NICS, whichever occurs first. Violations: up to one year or $500. It does not apply to transfers that need no background check (such as between immediate family members) or to a dealer returning a firearm, frame or receiver it has serialized to the same person.

Question 7

Does Vermont have a red flag law?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A State's Attorney, the Office of the Attorney General, or a family or household member may petition the Family Division of the Superior Court for an extreme risk protection order barring a person from purchasing, possessing or receiving a dangerous weapon (firearm or explosive). After notice and a hearing, with the petitioner proving the case by clear and convincing evidence, an order lasts up to six months; the respondent may move to terminate it (once per order period), and a State's Attorney or the Attorney General may move to renew it. A temporary ex parte order may be issued for imminent risk, with a hearing within 14 days; when a family or household member files, the State's Attorney is substituted as plaintiff.

Question 8

Does Vermont ban assault weapons or high-capacity magazines?

Accepted Answer

No assault weapons ban. Large-capacity magazines are banned: a person may not manufacture, possess, transfer, offer for sale, purchase, receive or import a magazine or similar device that holds (or can readily be converted to hold) more than 10 rounds for a long gun or more than 15 rounds for a handgun (up to one year or $500). Devices lawfully possessed on or before the law's effective date (April 11, 2018) are grandfathered for possession, and .22 rimfire tubular magazines and magazines solely for lever-action or bolt-action long guns are excluded. Bump-fire stocks are also banned.

Question 9

Can you keep a gun in your car in Vermont without a permit?

Accepted Answer

No permit is needed to have a handgun in a vehicle, loaded or unloaded, concealed or not. For long guns, a person may not carry or possess, in or on a motor vehicle within the right-of-way of a public highway, a rifle or shotgun with a loaded cartridge or shell in the chamber, mechanism, magazine or clip (or a charged and capped muzzleloader), and must show the long gun to an enforcement officer on demand. Firearms stored in a motor vehicle are exempt from the polling-place ban.

Question 10

Which states' carry permits does Vermont honor?

Accepted Answer

Vermont has no state law that addresses recognition of other states' carry permits. Because Vermont issues no carry permits and requires none, residents and visitors may carry under the same rules regardless of any permit from another state.

Question 11

Where can't you carry a gun in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

Main places: (1) school buildings and school buses (knowing possession of a firearm: up to one year or $1,000 for a first offense), and any school property when possessed with intent to injure, unless authorized by the school board; (2) courthouses, without the court's authorization; (3) hospital buildings (fine up to $250; notice must be posted at entrances); (4) polling places and the walks leading to them on election day, and town clerk offices during authorized early voting (up to one year or $1,000; firearms stored in a motor vehicle are exempt).

Question 12

Are ghost guns legal in Vermont?

Accepted Answer

Since February 28, 2025, a person may not knowingly possess or transfer an unfinished frame or receiver, or a firearm, frame or receiver, that has not been imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee; anyone who makes a firearm, frame or receiver (including by 3-D printer) must have it serialized by a licensee. Exceptions include licensees, taking the item to be serialized, law enforcement, antique firearms, permanently inoperable firearms and firearms made before 1968. Penalties: unlawful possession is a civil penalty of up to $50 for a first offense, then up to two years/$1,000 and up to three years/$2,000 for later offenses; unlawful transfer or failing to serialize a self-made gun is up to one year/$500 for a first offense, rising for later offenses; using an unserialized firearm in a violent crime or reckless endangerment is up to five years/$5,000.

Permitless (constitutional) carry	Yes. Vermont has no state law that requires a permit to carry; the carrying statute makes it a crime only to carry a dangerous or deadly weapon 'with the intent to injure another' (up to two years or $2,000, or a felony of up to 10 years or $25,000 if the person intends to injure multiple persons). No minimum carrying age is set by statute, but a child under 16 may not possess a pistol or revolver without a parent's or guardian's consent. People barred from possessing firearms (for example, those convicted of violent crimes, or subject to certain relief-from-abuse, stalking or extreme risk orders) may not carry. Reviewed 13 V.S.A. chapter 85 (Weapons, §§ 4001-4084) on 2026-10-27; no permit requirement found. Full chapter: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/13/085 Source: 13 V.S.A. §§ 4003; 4008; 4017; 4017a; 13 V.S.A. ch. 85 (reviewed)
Concealed carry permit	Vermont has no state law that provides for a concealed carry permit or license. Carrying is lawful without one, subject to the intent-to-injure offense in § 4003 and the places and persons restricted by statute. Reviewed 13 V.S.A. chapter 85 (Weapons, §§ 4001-4084) on 2026-10-27; no provision found. Residents who travel may need a nonresident permit from another state; that is outside Vermont law. Source: 13 V.S.A. § 4003; 13 V.S.A. ch. 85 (reviewed)
Open carry	Allowed without a permit for handguns and long guns, on the same terms as concealed carry: the statute bars carrying a dangerous or deadly weapon only with intent to injure another. A child under 16 may not possess a pistol or revolver without parental or guardian consent. Loaded rifles and shotguns may not be carried in a motor vehicle on a public highway right-of-way (see carry_in_car). Source: 13 V.S.A. §§ 4003; 4008; 10 V.S.A. § 4705(b)
Guns in your car	No permit is needed to have a handgun in a vehicle, loaded or unloaded, concealed or not. For long guns, a person may not carry or possess, in or on a motor vehicle within the right-of-way of a public highway, a rifle or shotgun with a loaded cartridge or shell in the chamber, mechanism, magazine or clip (or a charged and capped muzzleloader), and must show the long gun to an enforcement officer on demand. Firearms stored in a motor vehicle are exempt from the polling-place ban. Source: 10 V.S.A. § 4705(b); 13 V.S.A. §§ 4003; 4027(c)(3)
Other states' permits (reciprocity)	Vermont has no state law that addresses recognition of other states' carry permits. Because Vermont issues no carry permits and requires none, residents and visitors may carry under the same rules regardless of any permit from another state. Reviewed 13 V.S.A. chapter 85 (Weapons, §§ 4001-4084) on 2026-10-27; no provision found. Source: 13 V.S.A. § 4003; 13 V.S.A. ch. 85 (reviewed)
Where guns are banned	Main places: (1) school buildings and school buses (knowing possession of a firearm: up to one year or $1,000 for a first offense), and any school property when possessed with intent to injure, unless authorized by the school board; (2) courthouses, without the court's authorization; (3) hospital buildings (fine up to $250; notice must be posted at entrances); (4) polling places and the walks leading to them on election day, and town clerk offices during authorized early voting (up to one year or $1,000; firearms stored in a motor vehicle are exempt). Source: 13 V.S.A. §§ 4004; 4016; 4023; 4027

Age to buy a gun	A person may not sell a firearm to a person under 21 (up to one year or $1,000), except to a law enforcement officer; an active or veteran member of the Vermont National Guard, another state's National Guard or the U.S. Armed Forces; or a buyer who gives the seller a certificate of completing a Vermont-approved hunter safety course (or an approved course in another state or a Canadian province). Separately, anyone other than a parent or guardian who sells or furnishes a firearm, dangerous weapon or ammunition to a minor under 16 may be fined $10 to $50 (instructors furnishing firearms for instruction and drill are exempt), and a child under 16 may not possess a pistol or revolver without parental or guardian consent. These rules apply to private sellers as well as dealers. Full chapter: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/13/085 Source: 13 V.S.A. §§ 4020; 4007; 4008
Background checks and private sales	Yes, universal. An unlicensed person may not transfer (sell, trade or give) a firearm to another unlicensed person unless both appear together with the firearm before a licensed dealer who agrees to facilitate the transfer and runs it as if selling from its own inventory, including a background check; the dealer may charge a reasonable fee. Violations: up to one year or $500. Exempt: transfers to or by law enforcement agencies, officers or armed forces members on duty; transfers between immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild and step- and great- relations); and temporary transfers to prevent imminent harm. No permit to purchase is required. Source: 13 V.S.A. § 4019
Waiting period	72 hours, for all firearms that require a background check: a person may not transfer a firearm until 72 hours after the dealer receives a unique NICS identification number for the transfer, or until seven business days have passed since the dealer contacted NICS, whichever occurs first. Violations: up to one year or $500. It does not apply to transfers that need no background check (such as between immediate family members) or to a dealer returning a firearm, frame or receiver it has serialized to the same person. Source: 13 V.S.A. § 4019a (added 2023, No. 45, eff. July 1, 2023; amended 2023, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), eff. May 28, 2024)
Ghost guns and homemade firearms	Since February 28, 2025, a person may not knowingly possess or transfer an unfinished frame or receiver, or a firearm, frame or receiver, that has not been imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee; anyone who makes a firearm, frame or receiver (including by 3-D printer) must have it serialized by a licensee. Exceptions include licensees, taking the item to be serialized, law enforcement, antique firearms, permanently inoperable firearms and firearms made before 1968. Penalties: unlawful possession is a civil penalty of up to $50 for a first offense, then up to two years/$1,000 and up to three years/$2,000 for later offenses; unlawful transfer or failing to serialize a self-made gun is up to one year/$500 for a first offense, rising for later offenses; using an unserialized firearm in a violent crime or reckless endangerment is up to five years/$5,000. Source: 13 V.S.A. §§ 4082-4084 (added 2023, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), eff. Feb. 28, 2025)

Vermont Gun Laws: Concealed Carry, Open Carry and Buying a Gun

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