Missouri concealed carry laws and reciprocity

Missouri permit holders must carry the permit while carrying concealed and display it with photo ID upon request of any peace officer; failure is a non-criminal citation of up to $35. No statute found requires permitless carriers to notify officers.

Concealed carry without a permit is lawful outside restricted areas, and RSMo 571.030.3 also exempts persons 19 or older (18 if military or honorably discharged) transporting a lawfully possessed concealable firearm in a vehicle's passenger compartment. Many RSMo 571.107 locations allow a firearm to remain in a vehicle on the premises if it is not removed or brandished.

RSMo 571.030.1(1) makes concealed carry an offense only when the weapon is carried into an area where firearms are restricted under RSMo 571.107, so concealed carry elsewhere does not require a permit. The statute sets no separate age threshold for this general carry; permits themselves require age 19 (18 for current or honorably discharged military).

The county or city sheriff shall issue a concealed carry permit to an applicant who meets the requirements of RSMo 571.101 to 571.121, including being at least 19 (or 18 and current or honorably discharged military).

Permits are issued by the sheriff of the county or city where the applicant resides, and applicants must have assumed residency in Missouri or be military members (or spouses) stationed in Missouri.

State law does not prohibit open carry, but RSMo 21.750 lets cities and counties regulate open carrying by ordinance. Where an ordinance bans open carry, holders of a Missouri permit or a recognized out-of-state permit may still open carry and must show the permit on demand of a law enforcement officer.

Private property posted with conspicuous signs at least 11 by 14 inches with one-inch letters is off-limits to concealed carry under RSMo 571.107.1(15). A violation is not a criminal act, but the person may be removed and, upon refusing to leave, cited for up to $100, with escalating fines and permit suspension or revocation for repeat violations.

Concealed carry is not authorized, without the owner's or manager's consent, in the portion of a liquor-licensed establishment primarily devoted to serving alcohol; this does not apply to bona fide restaurants seating at least 50 that earn at least 51% of gross income from food. Separately, handling a firearm negligently or unlawfully while intoxicated is an offense under RSMo 571.030.1(5).

State park rules (10 CSR 90-2.020) prohibit hunting and discharging firearms except in self-defense but do not prohibit carrying. Under RSMo 571.030.1(8) and .4, only permit holders may carry into buildings owned or occupied by a state agency.

Carrying a firearm into a place of worship is an offense for non-permit holders under RSMo 571.030.1(8). Permit holders may carry concealed there only with the consent of the minister or the persons representing the religious organization (RSMo 571.107.1(14)).

Concealed carry into any higher education institution is not authorized without the consent of its governing body (RSMo 571.107.1(10)). A firearm may remain in a vehicle on the premises if it is not removed or brandished.

Under RSMo 571.030.1, non-permit holders may not carry into schools, school buses or school events, churches, election precincts on election day, or federal, state or local government buildings. Under RSMo 571.107, no permit authorizes concealed carry into police stations, within 25 feet of polling places on election day, jails and prisons, courthouses and court offices, government meetings, bar areas of liquor licensees without consent, secured airport areas, federally prohibited places, schools and colleges without consent, child care facilities and riverboat casinos without consent, gated amusement park areas, churches without consent, posted private property, arenas or stadiums seating 5,000 or more, and hospitals accessible to the public.

RSMo 563.031.3 provides that a person has no duty to retreat from a dwelling, residence, or vehicle they lawfully occupy, from private property they own or lease, or from any other location they have the right to be.

Missouri's prohibited-weapons statute (RSMo 571.020) does not restrict ammunition magazines, and RSMo 21.750 preempts local firearm regulation.

RSMo 571.020 does not prohibit semiautomatic rifles or so-called assault weapons, and RSMo 21.750 bars local governments from regulating firearms beyond exceptions it lists.

RSMo 571.020 prohibits possessing a firearm silencer only when it is in violation of federal law, so federally compliant suppressors are lawful under state law.

RSMo 571.020 prohibits short-barreled rifles only when possessed in violation of federal law; a short barrel for a rifle is under 16 inches or an overall length under 26 inches (RSMo 571.010).

RSMo 571.020 prohibits short-barreled shotguns only when possessed in violation of federal law; a short barrel for a shotgun is under 18 inches or an overall length under 26 inches (RSMo 571.010).