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Arizona prohibits any person from selling or giving a firearm or ammunition or a toy pistol from which dangerous and explosive substances may be discharged to a person under age 18 without written consent of the minor’s parent or legal guardian.1

Arizona law prohibits an unemancipated person under age 18 from knowingly carrying or possessing a firearm on his person, within his immediate control, or in or on a means of transportation, in any place that is open to the public or on any street or highway or on any private property (except private property owned or leased by the minor or the minor’s parent, grandparent or guardian). This prohibition does not apply if the minor is accompanied by a parent, grandparent, or guardian, or a certified hunter safety instructor or certified firearms safety instructor acting with the consent of the unemancipated person’s parent or guardian.2

This prohibition also does not apply to a person who is 14 to 17 years of age and who is:

  • Engaged in lawful hunting or shooting events or marksmanship practice at an established range or other area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited;
  • Engaged in lawful transportation of an unloaded firearm for the purpose of lawful hunting;
  • Engaged in lawful transportation of an unloaded firearm between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for the purpose of shooting events or marksmanship at an established range or other area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited; or
  • Engaged in an activity requiring the use of a firearm that is related to the production of crops, livestock, poultry, livestock products, poultry products, or ratites or in the production or storage of agricultural commodities.3

Arizona places no additional restrictions on the purchase or possession of handguns, although  federal age restrictions still apply.

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  1. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3109(A). Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 1-215(22) defines “minor” as a person under 18. The prohibition under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3109(A) does not apply to the temporary transfer of firearms and ammunition by firearms safety instructors, hunter safety instructors, or competition coaches or their assistants, if the minor’s parent or guardian has given consent for the minor to participate in activities such as firearms or hunting safety courses, firearms competition, or training. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3109(C). With the consent of the minor’s parent or guardian, the temporary transfer of firearms and ammunition by an adult accompanying minors engaged in hunting or formal or informal target shooting activities is allowed for those purposes.[]
  2. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3111(A).[]
  3. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3111(B).[]