Kansas concealed carry laws and reciprocity

The Personal and Family Protection Act (K.S.A. 75-7c01 et seq.) contains no requirement for a licensee or unlicensed carrier to notify an officer or display a license on contact.

No license is required to carry a loaded handgun, including in a vehicle, for persons 21 and older (under-21 concealed carry requires a provisional or recognized license). Possessing a loaded firearm within immediate access in a vehicle while under the influence is a class A misdemeanor (K.S.A. 21-6332).

Kansas law does not generally prohibit carrying a handgun without a license, openly or concealed, loaded or unloaded. Concealed carry of a firearm by a person under 21 is a misdemeanor unless the person holds a Kansas provisional license or a recognized out-of-state license, or is on their own land, abode, or fixed place of business.

The Attorney General shall issue four-year concealed carry licenses to applicants who meet training requirements and are not disqualified; standard licenses require age 21 and provisional licenses age 18. The AG may deny only on statutory grounds.

The Attorney General may not issue a license to an applicant who is not a resident of Kansas and of the county where the application is made (with mail-in provisions for active-duty military residents stationed elsewhere).

K.S.A. 75-7c03 states that licensing does not impose a general prohibition on carrying handguns openly or concealed, and K.S.A. 12-16,124 bars cities and counties from regulating the carrying of firearms. Open carry may be barred in buildings posted under K.S.A. 75-7c24.

Buildings may prohibit concealed carry (K.S.A. 75-7c10) or open carry (K.S.A. 75-7c24) only by posting signs that meet Attorney General rules, but a person who carries in violation is not subject to a criminal penalty and may only be denied entry or removed.

No Kansas statute bars carry in places serving alcohol; such buildings may be posted under K.S.A. 75-7c10. Possessing a loaded firearm while under the influence to a degree that renders a person incapable of safely operating it is a class A misdemeanor (K.S.A. 21-6332).

No Kansas statute lists state parks as a place where carrying is prohibited, so this value rests on the absence of a statutory ban. Under K.S.A. 75-7c20 concealed carry may not be prohibited in a state building or its public areas unless the building has adequate security measures and is conspicuously posted under K.S.A. 75-7c10, and violating a posted building restriction is not a criminal offense (removal from the premises only).

No Kansas statute specifically restricts carry in places of worship; under K.S.A. 75-7c10 a building may prohibit concealed carry only by conspicuous posting, and a violation carries no criminal penalty.

Public postsecondary institutions may not prohibit concealed carry in a building unless it has adequate security measures (electronic screening and armed personnel) at public entrances and is posted; their temporary exemption expired July 1, 2017. Carriers under 21 need a provisional or recognized license.

Restricted places include state or municipal buildings with adequate security measures and posting (K.S.A. 75-7c20), courtrooms where the chief judge so orders, and capitol complex buildings, the governor's residence, designated state buildings and county courthouses under K.S.A. 21-6309 (concealed handguns by those 21+ or licensed are exempt). K-12 school property is restricted under K.S.A. 21-6301 except for concealed handguns carried by those 21+ or licensed; posted private buildings may refuse entry.

Under K.S.A. 21-5230, a person not engaged in unlawful activity who is attacked in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat.

Kansas's criminal use of weapons statute (K.S.A. 21-6301) contains no magazine capacity limit, and K.S.A. 12-16,124 bars cities and counties from regulating firearms, ammunition, or their components.

K.S.A. 21-6301 restricts automatic firearms and certain other items but does not prohibit semi-automatic rifles, and local firearm regulation is preempted by K.S.A. 12-16,124.

Senate Substitute for HB 2501 (2026), signed by the governor and effective July 1, 2026, removed firearm suppressors from Kansas criminal use of weapons law (previously allowed only with NFA compliance) and added an enhanced sentence for using a suppressor in certain felonies.

Kansas weapons statutes (K.S.A. 21-6301 and 21-6302) contain no barrel-length restriction on rifles.

Senate Substitute for HB 2501 (2026), effective July 1, 2026, removed the 18-inch shotgun barrel requirement from K.S.A. 21-6301 and 21-6302 (previously such shotguns were allowed only with NFA compliance) and added an enhanced sentence for using one in certain felonies.