State rankings
Open Carry States
Texas has the highest Minimum Age for Open Carry (21), followed by Florida (21) and Pennsylvania (21). Wyoming has the lowest (18).
LawPolitics & Government51 states · 3 metricsUpdated Mar 23, 2025Original page
4 sources
- What Is Open Carry and Which States Allow It? - USCCA
- Florida AG declares open carry 'law of the state' following court decision. What's legal now? - Tallahassee Democrat
- Florida now allows open carry. Alachua County says it’ll fully comply. - Florida Alligator
- Florida appeals court ruling on open carry creates legal confusion over gun-free zones - CBS News
Minimum Age for Open CarryBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
46 of 51 statesMinimum Age for Open Carry
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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All 46 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
18
Middle half 18 – 21
Average
19.22
46 states
Highest
21
Texas
Lowest
18
Wyoming
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
51 states · # = rank by Minimum Age for Open Carry
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Texas | No Permit Req. | 21 | Weapon must be holstered |
| 1 |  Florida | No Permit Req. | 21 | Florida's law banning open carry was struck down in court in Sept 2025. Administrators, law enforcement officials, and gun activists have raised concerns that the current open carry law lacks clearly defined parameters regarding what is and is not legal in regard to public car… |
| 1 |  Pennsylvania | No Permit Req. | 21 | Legal except in vehicles. Also, not permitted in Philadelphia |
| 1 |  Georgia | Permit Required | 21 | 18 for military; Open carry is not addressed in the new constitutional carry bill |
| 1 |  New Jersey | Permit Required | 21 | Open carry is not explicitly prohibited in New Jersey law. |
| 1 |  Washington | No Permit Req. | 21 | Legal, except in vehicles. |
| 1 |  Tennessee | No Permit Req. | 21 | 18 for military |
| 1 |  Maryland | Permit Required | 21 | 18 for employment purposes |
| 1 |  Minnesota | Permit Required | 21 | — |
| 1 |  South Carolina | Permit Required | 21 | — |
| 1 |  Oklahoma | No Permit Req. | 21 | — |
| 1 |  Connecticut | Permit Required | 21 | Although technically legal, an appellate court has recognized that “depending on the specific circumstances, a person who openly carries a pistol conceivably may be subject to arrest for violating several statutes, . . . even if § 29–35 does not prohibit a permit holder from c… |
| 1 |  Utah | No Permit Req. | 21 | — |
| 1 |  Iowa | No Permit Req. | 21 | — |
| 1 |  Hawaii | Permit Required | 21 | Only valid in the county for which the permit was issued |
| 1 |  Maine | No Permit Req. | 21 | — |
| 1 |  Rhode Island | Permit Required | 21 | Only with a permit issued by the Attorney General |
| 1 |  Alaska | No Permit Req. | 21 | — |
| 19 |  Missouri | Anomalous Open Carry | 19 | 18 for military |
| 19 |  New Mexico | No Permit Req. | 19 | — |
| 21 |  Ohio | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  North Carolina | No Permit Req. | 18 | Some localities can restrict where users are legally allowed to open carry. Such rules may differ from those in other localities |
| 21 |  Michigan | Anomalous Open Carry | 18 | The gun must be registered in carrier's name. Non-residents must have a valid permit from a state that Michigan recognizes. |
| 21 |  Virginia | No Permit Req. | 18 | Some localities can restrict where users are legally allowed to open carry. Such rules may differ from those in other localities |
| 21 |  Arizona | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Indiana | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Colorado | Anomalous Open Carry | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Wisconsin | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Alabama | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Kentucky | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Louisiana | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Oregon | Anomalous Open Carry | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Nevada | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Arkansas | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Kansas | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Mississippi | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Idaho | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Nebraska | Anomalous Open Carry | 18 | — |
| 21 |  West Virginia | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  New Hampshire | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Montana | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Delaware | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  South Dakota | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  North Dakota | Permit Required | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Vermont | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| 21 |  Wyoming | No Permit Req. | 18 | — |
| — |  California | Illegal | — | It is generally prohibited to carry a firearm openly in California. However, the sheriff of any county with a population under 200,000 people or the chief of police of a city within that county, may issue licenses to carry a loaded, exposed handgun. Such licenses are only vali… |
| — |  New York | Illegal | — | — |
| — |  Illinois | Illegal | — | — |
| — |  Massachusetts | Permit Required | — | Only if individual has a current, valid Class B permit/license. No new class B licenses are being issued. |
| — |  District of Columbia | Illegal | — | — |
What correlates with Minimum Age for Open Carry?
Pearson r against 2,102 other state metrics sharing at least 28 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Minimum Age for Open Carry tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Minimum Age for Open Carry tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Minimum Age for Open Carry?
- Texas has the highest Minimum Age for Open Carry, at 21, followed by Florida (21) and Pennsylvania (21).
- Which state has the lowest Minimum Age for Open Carry?
- Wyoming has the lowest Minimum Age for Open Carry, at 18.
- What is the median Minimum Age for Open Carry across US states?
- The median is 18 across the 46 US states with data.
- Where does this open carry states data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: What Is Open Carry and Which States Allow It? - USCCA; Florida AG declares open carry 'law of the state' following court decision. What's legal now? - Tallahassee Democrat; Florida now allows open carry. Alachua County says it’ll fully comply. - Florida Alligator; Florida appeals court ruling on open carry creates legal confusion over gun-free zones - CBS News.