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Missouri generally allows qualifying individuals to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. A Missouri concealed carry permit may still provide benefits, including recognition by certain other states. Permit holders must follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws.

An applicant generally must be at least 19 years old. Certain members of the United States Armed Forces and honorably discharged veterans may apply at age 18 if they meet the statute’s other requirements.

Generally, yes. Applicants must have established Missouri residency. Certain military members stationed in Missouri and their qualifying spouses may also apply.

Apply through the sheriff’s office in the Missouri county—or the City of St. Louis—in which you reside. Contact the appropriate office before visiting because appointment procedures and payment methods may vary.

No. The course provides the firearms-safety training and certificate needed to support your application. You must separately apply through your sheriff’s office, submit the required documents, be fingerprinted, pay the permit fee, and pass the required background checks.

Generally, bring a completed application, government-issued photo ID, proof of Missouri residency or qualifying military status, a copy of an approved firearms-safety training certificate, the nonrefundable fee, and any other documentation requested by the sheriff’s office.

Yes. Applicants are fingerprinted, and the sheriff conducts state and federal criminal-history checks, including inquiries through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and the FBI.

The sheriff may charge a nonrefundable application fee of up to $100, including fingerprinting and background-check costs. An electronic payment fee may also apply. The government permit fee is separate from your CCW course tuition.

The timeline depends largely on completion of the required background checks. Once approved, the sheriff must issue the permit within three working days. If the background-check reports are not completed within 45 calendar days and no disqualifying information has otherwise been found, the statute provides for a provisional permit.

A Missouri concealed carry permit is valid until five years from the last day of the month in which it was issued or renewed.

The sheriff may charge a nonrefundable renewal fee of up to $50. Contact your sheriff’s office before the permit expires for its current procedures and fees.

Possible disqualifiers include certain serious criminal convictions or pending charges, specified recent misdemeanors, fugitive status, dishonorable military discharge, a current full order of protection, certain mental-incompetency adjudications or commitments, a firearm-possession prohibition, or documented behavior that reasonably indicates a danger to self or others. Eligibility depends on the individual facts and legal disposition of a person’s record.

The sheriff must give written notice explaining the grounds. An applicant generally has 30 days to submit additional supporting documentation. Missouri law also provides procedures for reconsideration and appeal.

Generally, no. Missouri law treats an individual’s status as a concealed carry permit holder as protected, closed information and restricts how that information may be accessed or disclosed.

Section 571.101 makes the permit valid throughout Missouri. Recognition elsewhere depends on each state’s current laws and reciprocity rules. Before traveling, check the official laws of every state through which you will travel.

Completely unload the firearm and place it in a locked, hard-sided container in checked baggage only. Keep the key or combination, and declare the firearm to the airline ticket agent at check-in. Secure ammunition in original packaging or another container designed for ammunition; do not pack loose ammunition or exposed cartridges. Never take a firearm through a TSA passenger-screening checkpoint. Check your airline’s rules and the laws at your departure point, connections, and destination before traveling. Review the current TSA firearm requirements and FAA ammunition guidance before every trip.

Missouri law limits deadly force to specified circumstances. A person may be justified when he or she reasonably believes deadly force is necessary to protect against death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony. The statute also addresses certain unlawful entries or attempted entries into an occupied dwelling, residence, vehicle, or qualifying private property. The person claiming self-defense must still satisfy the statute’s conditions and limitations. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.031.

Missouri law does not use that exact phrase in § 563.031, but it states that a person has no duty to retreat from a dwelling, residence, or vehicle where the person is lawfully present; from private property the person owns or leases; or from any other location where the person has the right to be. The remaining requirements for justified force still apply. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.031.3.

Under Missouri’s current statute, a person generally has no duty to retreat from a location where that person has the right to be. This does not create an unlimited right to use force; the force must still satisfy the statute’s reasonable-belief, necessity, and other requirements. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.031.3.

Missouri law permits physical force, when reasonably believed necessary, to prevent stealing, property damage, or tampering. However, § 563.041 does not independently authorize deadly force solely to protect property; deadly force must be authorized under another section of Chapter 563. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.041.

Potentially. Missouri law allows physical force to defend a third person from what the defender reasonably believes is the use or imminent use of unlawful force, subject to statutory restrictions. Deadly force requires the additional conditions stated in § 563.031. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.031.1–2.

When it is safe, stop using force once the threat has ended, move to safety, call 911, request medical assistance, and follow responding officers’ commands. Avoid disturbing evidence unless necessary for immediate safety. Because statements and actions after an incident can have serious consequences, seek advice from a qualified Missouri attorney. Whether the original use of force was justified is evaluated under RSMo § 563.031.

Displaying a weapon can carry serious legal consequences. Missouri’s unlawful-use-of-weapons statute addresses exhibiting a weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner, while also recognizing an exception for a lawful act of defense under § 563.031. Whether a particular display was lawful is highly fact-specific. Applicable law: RSMo § 571.030.1(4) and .5; § 563.031.

The statute focuses on the circumstances and the defender’s reasonable belief—not only on whether the other person visibly possesses a weapon. Deadly force requires a reasonable belief that it is necessary to protect against death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony, or another circumstance specifically authorized by the statute. Each case depends on its facts. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.031.2.

Words, tone, actions, distance, ability, and surrounding circumstances may all affect whether a belief in imminent unlawful force was reasonable. A verbal statement does not automatically authorize force or deadly force; the legal question remains whether the statutory requirements were met under the complete circumstances. Applicable law: RSMo § 563.031.

Missouri defines deadly force as physical force used with the purpose of causing—or known to create a substantial risk of causing—death or serious physical injury. The amount and type of force used in defense must be supported by the applicable justification statute; deadly force is subject to stricter requirements. Definition: RSMo § 563.011(2); defense of persons: § 563.031.