Missouri Pepper Spray and Stun Gun Laws (2026)

Missouri's weapons code, Chapter 571 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, does not name pepper spray or a stun gun in any of its device-specific definitions, but that is not the same as saying the chapter has nothing to say about either one. Two sections above the general weapons offense most readers land on, RSMo 571.015 makes committing any felony "by, with, or through the use, assistance, or aid of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon" the separate, additional offense of armed criminal action, and Missouri's Court of Appeals has already affirmed an armed criminal action conviction where the underlying instrument was a Taser.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Missouri state law only, principally RSMo 571.010, 571.015, 571.020, 571.030, 571.107, 556.061, and 21.750. It does not cover municipal ordinances that may separately regulate these devices, nor Missouri's assault statutes outside Chapter 571.

Is pepper spray legal in Missouri?

Missouri's weapons code does not contain a section devoted to pepper spray, and its own text explains why the closest related definition does not reach it. RSMo 571.010 defines "gas gun" as "any gas ejection device, weapon, cartridge, container or contrivance other than a gas bomb that is designed or adapted for the purpose of ejecting any poison gas that will cause death or serious physical injury, but not any device that ejects a repellant or temporary incapacitating substance." An ordinary self-defense pepper spray canister is designed to eject a repellant, temporarily incapacitating substance, which is exactly what that closing clause excludes from the "gas gun" definition. The exclusion matters because RSMo 571.020.1(3) makes knowingly possessing, manufacturing, transporting, repairing, or selling a "gas gun" a class D felony under RSMo 571.020.3; the carve-out is what keeps an ordinary pepper spray canister out of that felony. None of Chapter 571's other 20 defined terms, covering blackjacks, explosive weapons, knives, knuckles, machine guns, projectile weapons, rifles, shotguns, spring guns, and switchblade knives, names pepper spray, OC spray, mace, or any similar device either.

That is not the only place Chapter 571 could reach pepper spray, though. RSMo 571.030.1(4) makes it unlawful to "exhibit, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner," a class E felony under subsection 8(1). RSMo 571.030.1(1) bars carrying such a weapon concealed into any of the 17 areas listed in RSMo 571.107.1, and RSMo 571.030.1(8) and (10) bar carrying one into a church, election precinct, government building, or school. "Weapon readily capable of lethal use" is not itself a defined term in RSMo 571.010's list, so the statute's own text does not resolve whether an ordinary pepper spray canister would qualify as one. Subsection 5 exempts a person "engaged in a lawful act of defense" under RSMo 563.031 from most of these offenses, subdivisions (3) through (10), and subsection 4 exempts a valid concealed carry permit holder from subdivisions (1), (8), and (10). No age minimum, capacity or formula cap, or purchase restriction for pepper spray appears anywhere in Chapter 571. Separately, RSMo 571.015 makes committing any felony "by, with, or through the use, assistance, or aid of a dangerous instrument," a term RSMo 556.061(20) defines to include any substance "readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury" under the circumstances in which it is used, the added offense of armed criminal action, an unclassified felony carrying, for a first offense, not less than 3 and not more than 15 years' imprisonment consecutive to the sentence for the underlying crime, rising to not less than 5 years on a second offense and not less than 10 years on a third or subsequent offense.

Are stun guns legal in Missouri?

Chapter 571 likewise names no stun gun, taser, or electronic weapon in RSMo 571.010's definitions or in the related possession and sale statute that follows it, RSMo 571.020, whose own list, read directly, covers items like switchblade knives, gas guns, and knuckles, the same defined terms from 571.010, and adds no device-specific stun-gun provision. No age minimum, permit requirement, or prohibited-persons list specific to stun guns appears in Chapter 571's text, and simply owning or carrying one is not, by itself, a Chapter 571 offense.

That silence does not mean Missouri law has nothing to say about a stun gun used to commit a crime. RSMo 571.015 makes it the separate offense of armed criminal action, an unclassified felony punishable, for a first offense, by not less than 3 and not more than 15 years' imprisonment served consecutively to the sentence for the underlying crime, with no parole, probation, conditional release, or suspended sentence for 3 years, to commit any felony "by, with, or through the use, assistance, or aid of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon." RSMo 556.061(20) defines "dangerous instrument" as "any instrument, article or substance, which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury." In State v. Henry III (Mo. App. S.D. 2024, No. SD37196), the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed three counts of the class A felony of first-degree assault of a corrections officer (then codified at RSMo 565.081.1, repealed effective January 1, 2017) and three counts of armed criminal action where the defendant used a Taser against corrections officers. But the court did not rule that a Taser is a "dangerous instrument": it decided the appeal on two other points, an evidentiary ruling and a speedy-trial claim, and expressly declined to reach the dangerous-instrument question. The State had argued at trial that video of the Taser's effect on another inmate was admissible "to demonstrate that the Taser was a dangerous instrument," and the court's opinion recites, as background rather than a holding, that "there was expert testimony that a Taser can cause death or serious physical injury if used by someone not trained in its use"; the court then held it "need not decide whether admission of the challenged video evidence was erroneous" because Henry could not show the ruling was outcome-determinative. What the opinion does establish is narrower: Missouri's Court of Appeals affirmed an armed criminal action conviction where the underlying instrument was a Taser, without ruling on whether a Taser meets the "dangerous instrument" definition. As with pepper spray, RSMo 571.030's "any weapon readily capable of lethal use" language, undefined in Chapter 571, is also broad enough in wording to potentially reach a stun gun carried into one of the 17 areas listed in RSMo 571.107.1, or exhibited in an angry or threatening manner under RSMo 571.030.1(4), a class E felony.

Local ordinances and preemption

Missouri's firearms preemption statute, RSMo 21.750, states that "the general assembly hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation touching in any way firearms, components, ammunition and supplies to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by any political subdivision of this state." Its text runs through "sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, bearing, transportation, licensing, permit, registration, taxation... or other controls on firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies," and none of that language mentions pepper spray, stun guns, chemical sprays, or electronic weapons. Because the preemption statute is written to reach firearms specifically, it does not, by its own text, block a Missouri county or municipality from adopting a local ordinance addressing pepper spray or stun guns.

Where you can't carry either device

RSMo 571.030.1(1) makes it unlawful to knowingly carry concealed "a knife, a firearm, a blackjack or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use" into any of the 17 areas listed in RSMo 571.107.1: a police, sheriff, or highway patrol office or station without consent; within 25 feet of a polling place on election day; an adult or juvenile detention or correctional institution, prison, or jail; a courthouse or court offices; a meeting of a local governing body or the general assembly; a posted portion of a government building; an establishment licensed to dispense intoxicating liquor for on-premises consumption; a controlled-access area of an airport; anywhere a firearm is barred by federal law; a college, university, or elementary or secondary school facility without consent; a child care facility portion without consent; a riverboat gambling operation; a gated area of an amusement park; a church or place of religious worship without the minister's consent; posted private property; a sports arena or stadium seating 5,000 or more; and a hospital accessible by the public. RSMo 571.030.1(8) and (10) separately bar carrying "a firearm or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use" into a church or place of worship, an election precinct on election day, a government building, a school, a school bus, or a school-sponsored function, whether or not the weapon is concealed.

"Weapon readily capable of lethal use" is not defined in RSMo 571.010, so the statute's text does not resolve whether an ordinary pepper spray canister or stun gun qualifies as one. Several exemptions narrow these offenses. RSMo 571.030.3's first sentence exempts a person transporting the weapon in a nonfunctioning state, an unloaded state with ammunition not readily accessible, or a state where the weapon itself is not readily accessible, from subdivisions (1), (5), (8), and (10). A second sentence in the same subsection separately provides that subdivision (1) alone "does not apply to any person nineteen years of age or older or eighteen years of age or older and a member of the United States Armed Forces, or honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces, transporting a concealable firearm in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, so long as such concealable firearm is otherwise lawfully possessed, nor when the actor is also in possession of an exposed firearm or projectile weapon for the lawful pursuit of game, or is in his or her dwelling unit or upon premises over which the actor has possession, authority or control, or is traveling in a continuous journey peaceably through this state." The dwelling-unit, own-premises, and continuous-journey branches of that sentence are not limited to firearms, so they lift subdivision (1)'s concealed-carry-into-restricted-areas offense for a concealed pepper spray canister or stun gun in those same situations. RSMo 571.030.4 exempts a valid concealed carry permit holder from subdivisions (1), (8), and (10). RSMo 571.030.5 exempts a person "engaged in a lawful act of defense pursuant to section 563.031" from subdivisions (3) through (10), which covers the exhibiting offense in subdivision (4) as well as the church, election-precinct, government-building, and school offenses.

The penalty depends on which subdivision applies. Under RSMo 571.030.8(2), a violation of subdivision (1), (6), (7), or (8) is a class B misdemeanor, except that carrying a concealed weapon onto posted private property triggers the graduated citation penalties in RSMo 571.107.2 instead, rising from up to $100 for a first offense to $500 with permit suspension and revocation for repeat offenses. Under RSMo 571.030.8(3), a violation of subdivision (10), the school offense, is a class A misdemeanor if the firearm is unloaded and a class E felony if loaded, a loaded/unloaded distinction written for a firearm that does not translate directly to a non-firearm device. Under RSMo 571.030.8(1), exhibiting "any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner" under subdivision (4) is a class E felony on its own, regardless of location.

Federal law: what it does and does not reach

No federal statute regulates a civilian's purchase or possession of pepper spray or a stun gun. Federal law matters in three places.

Federal buildings. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930(a), whoever knowingly possesses or causes to be present "a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal facility (other than a Federal court facility)" faces a fine, imprisonment of up to 1 year, or both. Subsection (e) sets up to 2 years for a federal court facility, and subsection (b) up to 5 years where the weapon is intended to be used in a crime. Section 930(g)(2) defines the term:

The term "dangerous weapon" means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2½ inches in length.

The definition names neither device. Whether a particular spray or stun gun is "readily capable of" causing serious bodily injury is a question of fact the statute does not answer. Subsection (d)(3) exempts "the lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes," and subsection (h) requires notice of the ban to be posted at each public entrance. A "Federal facility" is "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties."

Air travel. The Transportation Security Administration's screening rules, which are agency policy rather than statute, bar both devices from carry-on bags. One 4 fl. oz. (118 ml) container of mace or pepper spray is permitted in checked baggage if it has a safety mechanism to prevent accidental discharge, and sprays containing more than 2 percent by mass of tear gas (CS or CN) are prohibited in checked baggage. Tasers, stun guns and other electro-shock weapons may travel in checked baggage only if transported so the device cannot discharge accidentally. Airlines may set stricter rules.

National parks. National Park Service regulations prohibit possessing, carrying or using a "weapon" in a park area except as the regulations provide (36 CFR 2.4(b)(1)). 36 CFR 1.4 defines "weapon" to include an "irritant gas device" and any "weapon the possession of which is prohibited under the laws of the State in which the park area or portion thereof is located."

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Missouri's pepper spray and stun gun laws as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Consult a lawyer licensed in Missouri for advice about a specific situation.

For a state-by-state comparison, see pepper spray and stun gun laws by state. Missouri's self-defense statutes are covered separately on the Missouri self-defense laws page.

Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is pepper spray legal to carry in Missouri?

Missouri's weapons code, Chapter 571, contains no dedicated pepper-spray statute. Its 'gas gun' definition in RSMo 571.010 expressly excludes 'any device that ejects a repellant or temporary incapacitating substance,' language that describes an ordinary self-defense spray, so pepper spray is not swept into RSMo 571.020.1(3)'s gas-gun offense, a class D felony under RSMo 571.020.3.

Do you need a permit for a stun gun in Missouri?

No permit provision for stun guns appears anywhere in Chapter 571, so owning one is not a licensed activity. But using a stun gun to commit a felony can be charged separately as armed criminal action under RSMo 571.015: RSMo 556.061(20) defines 'dangerous instrument' broadly enough to include a device 'readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury,' and Missouri's Court of Appeals has already upheld an armed criminal action conviction built on a Taser in State v. Henry III (Mo. App. S.D. 2024).

Can a Missouri city ban pepper spray or stun guns?

Missouri's firearms preemption statute, RSMo 21.750, occupies and preempts local regulation of firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies only. Its text does not mention pepper spray or stun guns, so that preemption statute does not by its own terms block a local ordinance addressing those devices.

Can you get in trouble for carrying pepper spray or a stun gun into a Missouri school or government building?

Potentially, yes. RSMo 571.030.1(1) bars carrying a 'weapon readily capable of lethal use' concealed into any of the 17 areas listed in RSMo 571.107.1, including schools, courthouses, polling places, and posted private property, and subdivisions (8) and (10) separately bar carrying one into a church, election precinct, government building, school, or school-sponsored function. That phrase is not defined in Chapter 571, so whether it reaches an ordinary pepper spray canister or stun gun is not resolved by the statute's own text, and exemptions for unloaded or nonfunctioning transport, a concealed carry permit, or a lawful act of self-defense can lift several of these offenses.

Can carrying or using pepper spray or a stun gun in Missouri be charged as a more serious crime?

Yes, if it is used to commit a felony. RSMo 571.015 makes it the separate offense of armed criminal action, an unclassified felony carrying, for a first offense, not less than 3 and not more than 15 years' imprisonment served consecutively to the sentence for the underlying felony (rising to not less than 5 years for a second offense and not less than 10 years for a third or subsequent offense), to commit that felony 'by, with, or through the use, assistance, or aid of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon.' Missouri's Court of Appeals affirmed an armed criminal action conviction where the underlying instrument was a Taser in State v. Henry III (Mo. App. S.D. 2024), without ruling on whether a Taser meets the 'dangerous instrument' definition; the appeal turned on an evidentiary ruling and a speedy-trial claim instead.