In general, you may openly carry a loaded firearm in Nevada. However, there are five circumstances where you may not carry a loaded gun:

1. You are under 18 and not accompanied by a parent, guardian or other designee;¹
2. You are prohibited from possessing a gun because of a prior conviction, a restraining order, etc.;
3. You have a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or higher or you are too impaired by drugs or alcohol to safely control a firearm (unless you are at home and have the gun for self-defense);²
4. You are in a location where firearms may not legally be carried; or
5. You are in your vehicle, and the gun is a rifle or shotgun.

The following graphic shows some of locations where loaded and unloaded guns are prohibited:

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys discuss:

• 1. Concealed Carry
• 2. Car Carry
• 3. Gun-free Zones
• Additional Reading

1. Concealed Carry

2. Car Carry

Handguns

As long as you are legally permitted to possess a firearm, you may carry a loaded handgun in your car in Nevada.

If you do not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, however, the loaded handgun may not be concealed upon your person. The gun must either be:

• Visible in its entirety, such as on the seat and not obscured by objects, or
• Carried in a concealed place away from your person, such as under your seat, in the glove compartment, or in a box, your purse, your backpack, a briefcase or another container you are not wearing.

Once you get out of your car, however, you must carry the gun openly unless you have a CCW permit. The only exception is if you are on your own property or other private property – such as a gun range — where it is permitted.

Long Guns

Long guns (such as rifles and shotguns) must always be unloaded when they are in your vehicle in Nevada unless:

• You are a paraplegic;
• One or both of your legs have been amputated;
• You have suffered a paralysis of one or both legs which severely impedes walking; or
• You are a peace officer or member of the Armed Forces of Nevada or the United States and you are on duty or going to or returning from duty.³

A muzzle-loading rifle or muzzle-loading musket is not loaded if the priming compound or element, including,  without limitation, the priming powder or the unfired primer or percussion cap, is removed from the muzzle-loading rifle or muzzle-loading musket.

3. Gun-free Zones

In Nevada, you may not carry a loaded or unloaded gun – even in your car – in or on the grounds of the following locations:

• Child care facilities and property;⁴
• State schools — including both public and private K-12, colleges and universities;⁵
• Airports;⁶
• Prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers;⁷
• Police and sheriff’s stations;⁸
• Government buildings;⁹
• County and city parks (if prohibited);
• Buildings with metal detectors or signs prohibiting firearms at each public entrance; or
• Any other place where carrying a firearm is prohibited by federal or state law.

Guns are also prohibited in most buildings and certain other features (such as caves) located in national parks. Before bringing a gun to a national park, you are advised to check with the park website for the gun-free zones.

Loaded handguns can be carried in cars in Nevada.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• What’s Going Wrong in Nevada? A Comparative Analysis of California and Nevada Gun Control Laws as They Relate to Gun Violence – Claremont McKenna thesis
• State gun laws and the movement of crime guns between states – International Review of Law and Economics
• Guns in the Sky: Nevada’s Firearm Laws, 1 October, and Next Steps – Nevada Law Journal forum
• In-State and Interstate Associations Between Gun Shows and Firearm Deaths and Injuries – Annals of Internal Medicine
• The relation between state gun laws and the incidence and severity of mass public shootings in the United States, 1976–2018 – Law and Human Behavior

Legal references: