Holiday season

Giving a gun as a gift in Nevada: background checks and the rules

In plain words: in Nevada, a private person who sells or gives a gun to another private person must first take both the gun and the person getting it to a licensed dealer for a background check (NRS 202.2547). Gifts between close family are the main exception (NRS 202.2548). Giving a handgun to someone under 18, or a gun to someone who can't legally have one, is a felony (NRS 202.310, 202.362).

Do you need a background check?

Yes: most private gifts and sales

Neither of you holds a federal firearms license
A friend, coworker, neighbor, in-law outside the list, or someone met online
A licensed dealer must run the check first (NRS 202.2547(1))

No: immediate family (NRS 202.2548(3))

Spouses and domestic partners
Parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren
Aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews
Including half, adopted and step relations

No: other exceptions

Antique firearms
Passing to an executor or trustee when the owner dies
Short handoffs at a range, a lawful competition, while hunting with the right licenses, or in the owner's presence
A brief transfer needed to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm

Breaking the rule (NRS 202.2549)

First offense: gross misdemeanor
Second or later offense: category C felony

How the check works

1. Go together, with the gun. The giver and the person getting it go to a licensed dealer together with the firearm and ask for a background check (NRS 202.2547(2)).

2. The dealer runs it like its own sale. Same agency, same records as if the gun came from the dealer's stock (NRS 202.2547(3)). The dealer may charge a reasonable fee (NRS 202.2547(7)).

3. If it takes time. The giver may take the gun home while the check runs, but both of you must come back and hand it to the dealer to finish the transfer (NRS 202.2547(5)).

4. If it comes back denied. The dealer returns the gun to the giver, and the giver must not give it to that person (NRS 202.2547(6)).

Kids and guns

Under 18 (NRS 202.300)

May handle a gun only with a parent, guardian or adult they authorize, with limited exceptions
14 and older: some exceptions for hunting, safety courses, ranges and competitions, with a parent's permission (written, for a handgun)
No loaded gun in a vehicle or in any home, except for immediate defense

What adults can be charged with

Selling or bartering a handgun to anyone under 18: category B felony (NRS 202.310)
Aiding or knowingly letting a child break the rule: misdemeanor first time, felony if you knew of a risk of violence (NRS 202.300(2))
Negligent storage when you know a child may get it: misdemeanor (NRS 202.300(5))

Safe storage protects you too

A person hasn't aided a child's violation if the gun was in a securely locked container or a place a reasonable person would think secure, or the child got it through someone's unlawful entry (NRS 202.300(3)). New gun in the house over the holidays with kids visiting: lock it up.

Never buy a gun for someone who can't have one

Selling, giving, or buying a gun or ammunition for someone you have reasonable cause to believe is under felony indictment, convicted of a felony, otherwise barred by NRS 202.360, or a known gang member is a category B felony, up to 10 years and a $10,000 fine (NRS 202.362). Family exceptions to the background check don't change this.

A protection order is in place

While an extended protection order is in effect, the person it's against may not buy or otherwise get a firearm, and the court may order them not to possess one (NRS 33.0305, 33.031). Don't give them one. See protection orders. Free advice before any transfer you're unsure of: free legal help.

Read 2026-11-05 from Nevada Revised Statutes on this house's law shelf: NRS 202.2544 to 202.2549, 202.300, 202.310 and 202.362 (chapter 202, Rev. 4/15/2026); NRS 33.0305 and 33.031 (chapter 33, Rev. 9/9/2026).