Carrying a firearm in Montana
What state law requires, and what federal law adds on top of it. Every fact below shows where it came from and how far we have verified it.
Check a specific address on the map →- Permit required to carry concealed
- No — Montana allows permitless carry from age 18.
- Duty to inform law enforcement
- Not yet established for this state.
- Permits Montana recognises
- We have not yet ingested Montana's published recognition list. That is a gap in our data, not a statement that it recognises nothing.
- Restricted areas mapped in this state
- Federal school zones (1,000 ft)966
- Corps of Engineers areas38
- Tribal areas13
- Military installations9
The federal layer applies regardless
Federal law bars possession within 1,000 ft of a school, and the exemption requires a licence issued by the state the school sits in — a permit Montana merely honours through reciprocity does not satisfy it. Carrying permitlessly satisfies it even less, because there is no licence at all. This is the trap that catches travellers who correctly concluded their permit was good here.
18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)
Sources and how far we have verified them
- permitless_carry·Mont. Code § 45-8-316Aggregated source — not yet verified against the statute · in force from 2021-02-18