Kentucky Gun Laws

[09jisaac]

Kentucky Gun Laws (and others)

All information contained in this post and all linked documents are to be used ONLY as a starting point to the laws and not as legal advice. It is impossible to cite every law that we, as responsible citizens who carry firearms, may need to know. Always check everything found on the internet for correctness and always check Federal, State, and Local laws.

Kentucky state's constitution protects the "right to bear arms"[+] Kentucky has a statewide preemptive law against local regulations of firearms, so ALL of Kentucky's gun laws should be the same.[+] Local governments can, however, regulate the carrying of CONCEALED deadly weapons in buildings, but not grounds, they own and/or control.[+]. Most of these laws apply equally if you are a resident of Kentucky or not.

CARRY/OWN

[+]237.020 Permit to own: No

[+]237.110 Permit to carry: Not openly

[+]527.100 Minimum age to OC: 18 for both handguns and long guns

[+]237.060 Loaded Carry: Yes, even without a permit. Loaded is defined as a round in the chamber (or cylinder) or rounds in a magazine attached to the firearm.

[+]527.100 Minimum age to own a firearm: 18 for both handguns and long guns that are not an NFA firearm.

[..]Registration of firearms: No

[..]Person to Person sale: Legal as long as they can legally own the firearm AND it is an instate sale (KY citizen selling to a KY citizen in KY). Background check is not required.

[+]527.020(8) Transport: Loaded or unloaded. In plain view or in any compartment installed by the original manufacturer.

[+]503.055 Castle Law: Yes

[+]503.080 Duty to retreat: No

[..]Must inform: No

[+]526.010 Record police: Yes, one party consent.

[+]244.125 Carrying in a bar: Unloaded and unconcealed only.

[+]244.125 Restaurant carry (as opposed to a bar): Yes, loaded if desired. It must make more than 50% of its earnings on FOOD and has at least 50 seats in the dining facility.

[+]Signs having weight of law: No, but if a prohibited place fails to post you're still in violation if you carry.

[+]237.106 Able to keep firearms at work: Yes, in your vehicle.

[+]527.070 Able to keep firearms at school(k-12): Only stored in your vehicle during drop off and pick up.

CONCEAL CARRY
Since the introduction of 527.020(9) it is legal to carry a concealed deadly weapon in a select few circumstances. This includes carrying at your place of business if you are the sole owner of said business, or on property owned or leased by you, your spouse, your parent your grandparent or child with their permission.

[+]237.110 Permit to carry concealed: Yes, CCDW or CDWL. I have heard it either way.

[+]237.110 Minimum age to apply for a CCDW: 21

[+]237.110 [+]500.080 Legal to carry concealed: Any deadly weapon including, but not limited to, firearms, knifes, metal knuckles, billy club.

[+]237.110(20)(a) Honors all states conceal carry permits.

[+]KY state police.org States that honor KY CCDW: AL, AK, AR, AZ, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IA, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WV, WI, WY. Some states may honor a KY CCDW permit but restrict carry to only handguns, all states listed are subject to their own laws. You must follow the laws of the state that you're in. RI and US Virgin Islands may honor with additional restrictions.

[+]508.050 Printing: Displaying a firearm in itself isn't a crime.

[+]527.020 Transport: With a permit you can have it anywhere in the vehicle.

[+]237.110 Places you cannot legally conceal: Police/Sheriff dept, detention facility, Court of Justice, government meeting, bar, any place where carrying of firearms are prohibited by federal law and any place that has an ordinance by 237.110.

[+]237.115 No criminal penalty shall attach to carrying a concealed firearm or other deadly weapon with a permit at any location at which an unconcealed firearm or other deadly weapon may be constitutionally carried.

[+]237.110 A CCDW holder must carry the permit at all times he/she is conceal carrying. Failure to provide CCDW at the request of a LEO is a non criminal $25 fine without court cost.

Misc Laws

[+]519.020 Obstructing: A person is guilty of obstructing governmental operations when he intentionally obstructs, impairs or hinders the performance of a governmental function by using or threatening to use violence, force or physical interference.

[+]525.60 Disorderly Conduct: A person is guilty of disorderly conduct in the second degree when in a public place and with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, or wantonly creating a risk thereof, he engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous, or threatening behavior; makes unreasonable noise; refuses to obey an official order to disperse issued to maintain public safety in dangerous proximity to a fire, hazard, or other emergency; or creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act that serves no legitimate purpose.

[+]525.30 Cruelty to an animal does not apply to:
Killing of a aggressive animal in self defense/ defense of another or in defense of a domesticated animal.

[+]Criminal Trespass in a building open to the public only when a lawful order, "personally communicated", by the owner or anyone with authority to do so. Signs do not hold weight of law in this case.

Court Cases / Opinions

Holland v Commonwealth- reinforces our right to open carry.
AGO 96-39-- Limits governments Authority in Parks
AGO 96-40-- College University Carry

Documents

OneBadUnit's Kentucky and Ohio trifold (04.02.12)

Statesman's View attachment Leo Open Carry Encounter Flowchart.pdf (04.02.12)

Sundiver's View attachment Things to Know While Open Carrying in Kentucky.pdf (04.02.12)

Common acronyms

CC- Concealed Carry
CDWL- Concealed Deadly Weapon License
CCDW- Carry Concealed Deadly Weapon; Concealed Carry Deadly Weapon
DC- Disorderly Conduct
LAC- Law abiding Citizen
LEA- Law Enforcement Agency
LEO- Law Enforcement Officer
LR- Long Rifle
NFA-National Firearm Act
OC- Open Carry
OCDO- opencarry.org (Open Carry Dot Org)
P2P- Person to Person
RAS-Reasonable Articulable Suspicion
RKBA- Right to Keep and Bear Arms
SHTF- Sh!t Hit the fan


Please post something if I missed it, or if I have incorrect information/cites.

I would like for a mod to make this a sticky- Thanks Grapeshot! I think this would really help the new people or people trying to travel through/to our state. I didn't even look to see if there was a thread like this, I assumed if their was then it would already be a sticky.

Edit: I hope this makes it easier to get the info you want/need.

Edit: I would like more court cases/opinions that reinforce our rights and cites for things already posted if you know where I can get them. I don't want anyone to take my word for it because I do make mistakes.

 

[Midwest]

[+] If you have a CCDW permit and forgot it and left it home. There is a non criminal $25 fine for not having the permit on you ....IF you were concealed carrying and asked to show the permit.

 

[09jisaac]

[+] If you have a CCDW permit and forgot it and left it home. There is a non criminal $25 fine for not having the permit on you ....IF you were concealed carrying and asked to show the permit.

Thanks midwest. Anything else you want up there?

 

[neuroblades]

[+]Restaurant carry: Yes, loaded if desired. It must make more than 50% of its earnings on FOOD.

It should be 51%. The majority of the restaurants sales has to be from food as opposed to alcohol.

 

[09jisaac]

The law says at least 50%, 50.0002% is at least 50%, but less that 51%. The link is right beside the law.

All the "[+]" are links to the law that I thought applied to that, but I don't know how to cite the "[..]".

 

[KYGlockster]

Add VT to your list of states that Ky residents can carry. In AZ, AK, and VT Ky residents can carry without a license. In MT you still must have a license, because they passed no license cc for residents only. 37 states we can carry in.

It isn't legal to carry a concealed firearm everywhere a non-concealed firearm can be constitutionally carried. These places would be police dept./sheriffs dept., meetings of a governing body of the state, a city or county, or in a bar. Only open carry is allowed in these places, if you carry concealed you can be arrested.

 

[09jisaac]

Add VT to your list of states that Ky residents can carry. In AZ, AK, and VT Ky residents can carry without a license. In MT you still must have a license, because they passed no license cc for residents only. 37 states we can carry in.

It isn't legal to carry a concealed firearm everywhere a non-concealed firearm can be constitutionally carried. These places would be police dept./sheriffs dept., meetings of a governing body of the state, a city or county, or in a bar. Only open carry is allowed in these places, if you carry concealed you can be arrested.

Thanks Glockster, I appreciate the help. I feel that I did a good job composing this but, as you pointed out, I can miss things. I want this to be the go to page of laws.

Do you care to cite any of these? I didn't list VT because it is listed as "other" on the state police website and the paper I got at my CCDW class (printed off of website).

I am not clear what you are saying about MT. Can you legally conceal in MT with a KY CCDW? EDIT: You're saying that with a KY CCDW you can conceal in MT, but if you're a MT resident then you can legally carry without any restrictions?

I guess I do need to change the wording a little. That is copy and pasted straight from the KRS (if I am not mistaken).

Also, I have been searching for the law that restricts CC in a bar. KRS 224.125 says: (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting the carrying of a concealed deadly weapon in violation of KRS 527.020, but when I go to 527.020 I can't find anything.

EDIT: I found this in KRS 237.110, thanks.

(How do you put the lines through the text?)

 

[KYGlockster]

The thread was an excellent idea. Now we can save alot of hand work and just point someone to the top of Ky's page.

In Vermont, they do not issue a license to carry concealed or openly. As long a you can lawfully purchase a firearm, you can carry it openly or concealed with no restrictions, other than following the laws of Vermont. "You must follow the laws of any state you choose to carry in." It's a wonderful idea, but bad for Vermont residents that would like a license for reciprocity agreements.

In Montana, residents of their state can carry concealed without a license, but not non residents. Since i was mentioning AZ,AK, and VT, I figured I would add the info about MT before somebody said "but they passed constitutional carry!". They really can't call it
constitutional, because it only applies to residents, and I believe locales can ban loaded OC or cc.

Note: when I took my cdwl class, my instructor told everyone if Ky has entered into a reciprocity agreement with another state, then you follow Ky law while carrying in that state.! This is completely FALSE. You must always abide by state and local law of the state you are carrying in. If anyone else has been told this, and you take the advice of your instructor, you will certainly be arrested if doing something illegal in a different state, and try telling the arresting officer "but my concealed carry instructor said to follow Ky law.". Always know the law of the state you intend to carry.

 

[Midwest]

In Montana, residents of their state can carry concealed without a license, but not non residents. Since i was mentioning AZ,AK, and VT, I figured I would add the info about MT before somebody said "but they passed constitutional carry!". They really can't call it
constitutional, because it only applies to residents, and I believe locales can ban loaded OC or cc.

Its not Montana, but Wyoming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Carry#Wyoming


Montana has constitutional carry only in certain parts of the state.

 

[Jbale22]

By KRS 527.020 obviously glovebox, center console, seat pocket etc. are NOT considered concealed. This statute also says ANY factory manufactured storage compartment is not concealed and lists those above but states that it is not limited to those. Just wondering what the general consensus was on the trunk, to me it is considered a storage compartment, but lately have just wondered about a "spare" in my trunk..

 

[09jisaac]

By KRS 527.020 obviously glovebox, center console, seat pocket etc. are NOT considered concealed. This statute also says ANY factory manufactured storage compartment is not concealed and lists those above but states that it is not limited to those. Just wondering what the general consensus was on the trunk, to me it is considered a storage compartment, but lately have just wondered about a "spare" in my trunk..

If you look at KRS 527.020, the law you cited, you are only guilty of CARRYING A CONCEALED deadly weapon if it is "on or about your person". I don't think the truck would be considered "on or about your person".

 

[Jbale22]

I agree, but neither is under your car seat, but that is considered concealed.

 

[09jisaac]

I agree, but neither is under your car seat, but that is considered concealed.

From the seat I can reach the firearm. So it is "on or about my persons". I can't reach the trunk.

 

[Jbale22]

Not to argue semantics, but I can't agree with that logic. I'm just gonna play devil's advocate, By the Logic "On or about my person" can be interpreted as strict within 3 ft. of a person or as loosely as anywhere in a vehicle. Obviously if a firearm is openly visible say in the passenger seat of a car, it is NOT considered concealed. But on the same token, KRS 527.020 Makes no mention of "openly visible" firearms so a firearm sitting in the passenger seat by the logic of "on or about a person" could include a firearm sitting in the passenger seat. I'm not trying to make new laws or new interpretation of laws, obviously having a firearm open in a seat is considered open carry(having said that it is not my choice of vehicle carry). And I do agree that the trunk is considered a storage compartment, but I feel like a LEO might see that as concealed seeing as their are many different places to tuck away a weapon in a trunk, even if a umbrella (or whatever you keep in your trunk besides extra ammo ) was to fall on top or cover up your weapon, it could be considered concealed.

Like I said just playing devil's advocate I just want to be certain before I do anything like that, and have plenty of evidence to defend my stance on it if I ever had to.

 

[09jisaac]

(1) A person is guilty of carrying a concealed weapon when he or she carries concealed a firearm or other deadly weapon on or about his or her person.

All of that has to be present to be tried with carrying a concealed deadly weapon. You cannot be charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon without a weapon, without it being concealed and without it being on or about your person.

You're COMPLETELY safe if you don't have a weapon.
You're completely safe if your weapon is in the open. In the seat next to you, in the back seat, on the dash. Some, me included, will even argue that the weapon isn't concealed on your hip, the officers perspective plays no part in determining if your weapon is concealed. You ca also store your weapon in a factory installed compartment without it being concealed.
Next the weapon has to be own or about your person. If the weapon is buried in the yard somewhere and you're pulled over then you don't have anything to worry about. But if it is within immediate access then it is "on or about his or her person".

 

[Statesman]

Holland v Commonwealth

Holland v Commonwealth should be added to communicate to OCers that there is court precedent upholding open carry of firearms in Kentucky.

http://www.kc3.com/Holland v Commonwealth.htm

Excerpted from

Holland v Commonwealth

Morton HOLLAND, Appellant

V

COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

October 5, 1956

Prosecution of a deputy sheriff for carrying a concealed deadly weapon. The Circuit Court, Perry County, C.C. Wells, Judge, entered judgment of conviction and defendant appealed. The Court of Appeals, Moremen, Judge, held that where deputy sheriff went outside of the county in which he was appointed to locate an alleged offender for the purpose of offender’s arrest pursuant to a warrant which had been delivered to him, he had the right to carry a concealed deadly weapon.

Judgment reversed with instructions that indictment be dismissed.

MOREMEN, Judge.

"……Section 1, subd. 7 of the Bill of Rights, which is concerned with inherent and inalienable rights, grants to all citizens:

‘The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and of the State, subject to the power of the General Assembly to enact laws to prevent persons from carrying concealed weapons.’

The foregoing section is an exemplification of the broadest expression of the right to bear arms. Some states give the legislature the right to regulate the carrying of firearms; at least one state prohibits even the possession of firearms. See cases collected in the annotation of Pierce v State of Oklahoma, 42 Okl. Cr. 272, 275 P. 393, 73 A.L.R. 833.

In our state the legislature is empowered only to deny to citizens the right to carry concealed weapons. The constitutional provision is an affirmation of the faith that all men have the inherent right to arm themselves for the defense of themselves and of the state. The only limitation concerns the mode of carrying such instruments. We observe, via obiter dicta, that although a person is granted the right to carry a weapon openly, a severe penalty is imposed for carrying it concealed. If the gun is worn outside the jacket or shirt in full view, no one may question the wearer’s right so to do; but if it is carried under the jacket or shirt, the violator is subject to imprisonment for not less than two nor more than five years. The heavy emphasis, we suppose, is upon the undue advantage given to a person who is able suddenly to expose and use a weapon, although the gun itself is the vicious instrument………."

 

[MrOverlay]

While I can't quote the name of the case, I believe I read one that affirmed that a rifle behind a pick up truck seat was concealed. I stand to be corrected as my memory of this case is somewhat fuzzy.

 

[KYGlockster]

Not to argue semantics, but I can't agree with that logic. I'm just gonna play devil's advocate, By the Logic "On or about my person" can be interpreted as strict within 3 ft. of a person or as loosely as anywhere in a vehicle. Obviously if a firearm is openly visible say in the passenger seat of a car, it is NOT considered concealed. But on the same token, KRS 527.020 Makes no mention of "openly visible" firearms so a firearm sitting in the passenger seat by the logic of "on or about a person" could include a firearm sitting in the passenger seat. I'm not trying to make new laws or new interpretation of laws, obviously having a firearm open in a seat is considered open carry(having said that it is not my choice of vehicle carry). And I do agree that the trunk is considered a storage compartment, but I feel like a LEO might see that as concealed seeing as their are many different places to tuck away a weapon in a trunk, even if a umbrella (or whatever you keep in your trunk besides extra ammo ) was to fall on top or cover up your weapon, it could be considered concealed.

Like I said just playing devil's advocate I just want to be certain before I do anything like that, and have plenty of evidence to defend my stance on it if I ever had to.

527.020 makes no mention of a firearm setting in PLAIN VIEW on your seat because 1) they cant regulate openly carried weapons, and 2) it isnt concealed. for a weapon to be concealed it has to be hidden from view and on or about your person. like under your shirt or your car seat. (so, a firearm setting on your seat for everyone to see is not CONCEALED ON OR ABOUT YOUR PERSON). the trunk is a stroage compartment, but it doesnt matter if you keep your firearm in your trunk because even if it was not considered a storage compartment, the gun can not be on or about your person if its in your trunk, so it wouldnt be considered carrying a concealed weapon.

 

[Statesman]

CONCEAL CARRY

[+]237.110 Permit to carry: Yes, CCDW

should read

CONCEAL CARRY

[+]237.110 Permit to conceal carry: Yes, CCDW

 

[KYGlockster]

should read

You are right. It should also read CDWL, and not CCDW