Nebraska Pepper Spray and Stun Gun Laws (2026)

Nebraska's weapons statutes, sections 28-1201 through 28-1212.04 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes, contain no section written specifically for pepper spray or stun guns. Reading the full definitions section and the offenses that use them shows a more layered picture than a simple gap, though: Nebraska's concealed-carry offense bars "a weapon or weapons concealed," with a named list of examples that is open-ended, not closed, and it carries an age floor of 21, not 18. Whether pepper spray or a stun gun counts as a "weapon" under that offense is not left open by the courts: the Nebraska Supreme Court has held that an item not specifically named in the statute is a deadly weapon only if the trier of fact finds it to be one from the evidence of how it was used or was intended to be used. A separate felony statute punishes using "any other deadly weapon" to commit a crime, and Nebraska's felon-in-possession statute uses a narrower, closed list that does not reach either device the same way.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Nebraska state law only, principally Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-109, 28-1201, 28-1202, 28-1204.04, 28-1205, 28-1206, 28-1256, and 13-330. It does not cover Nebraska's assault or menacing statutes outside these sections.

Is pepper spray legal in Nebraska?

Nebraska's weapons statutes do not contain a section devoted to pepper spray. Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1201's 16 definitions, which govern sections 28-1201 through 28-1212.04 (the range that ends where the state's explosives-control sections begin at 28-1213), name a case, a concealed handgun, a firearm, a fugitive from justice, a handgun, a home school, a juvenile, a knife, knuckles, a machine gun, a minor, a prohibited person, qualified and qualified retired law enforcement officers, a school, a short rifle, and a short shotgun. None of them is pepper spray, tear gas, oleoresin capsicum, or any similar chemical spray term, and no provision naming pepper spray, mace, or a chemical spray device appears anywhere in Nebraska's weapons statutes.

The closest a statute comes is Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1202(1), which bars a minor or a prohibited person from carrying "a weapon or weapons concealed on or about his or her person, such as a handgun, a knife, brass or iron knuckles, or any other deadly weapon." The phrase "such as" makes the four named items examples of a covered weapon, not a closed list with a bolted-on catchall, so the operative question is simply whether a canister of pepper spray is "a weapon" the section reaches. "Deadly weapon" is not separately defined within section 28-1201, but Nebraska's general Criminal Code definitions section, 28-109(8), defines it for the code as a whole: "any firearm, knife, bludgeon, or other device, instrument, material, or substance, whether animate or inanimate, which in the manner it is used or intended to be used is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury." That definition turns on how a device is used or intended to be used rather than naming specific items, and the Nebraska Supreme Court has said exactly what that means for an item like a pepper spray canister that section 28-1202 does not name. In State v. Williams, 218 Neb. 57, 352 N.W.2d 576 (1984), the court held that "the context of Chapter 28, article 12, requires that the concept of per se deadly weapon be limited to the specific weapons enumerated in section 28-1202(1)," and, quoting its own earlier decision in State v. Valencia, 205 Neb. 719, 290 N.W.2d 181 (1980), that "the question of whether an object or weapon not specifically mentioned in the statute is a 'deadly weapon' is clearly a question of fact to be decided by the trier of fact in prosecutions under this statute, and the resolution of this question will depend upon the evidence adduced as to the use or intended use of the object in question." State v. Kanger, 215 Neb. 128, 337 N.W.2d 422 (1983), restates the same rule, also tracing it to Valencia. So an ordinary pepper spray canister is not a deadly weapon automatically, the way a handgun is, but it becomes one under section 28-1202 if the facts of how it was used or was meant to be used support that finding; the combination of 28-1202 and 28-109's definition has itself already survived a vagueness challenge on this same point in Valencia. A violation of section 28-1202 is a Class I misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class IV felony for a second or subsequent offense.

The age and eligibility rules that do exist run through this same concealed-carry statute rather than a dedicated pepper-spray provision. Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1201(11)(a) defines "minor" as "a person who is under twenty-one years of age," with a narrow exception in (11)(b) for an 18-to-20-year-old who is active or reserve military, National Guard, ROTC, or a peace officer. So to the extent section 28-1202's concealed-weapon offense reaches a pepper spray canister, the relevant age floor is 21, not 18. Section 28-1201(12)(a) separately defines "prohibited person" for that same offense to include anyone barred from possessing a firearm or ammunition by state law, "including, but not limited to, section 28-1206," and anyone barred by 18 U.S.C. 922(d) or (g) as it existed on January 1, 2023, reaching categories like unlawful drug users and people under qualifying protection orders. Because 28-1206 bars a convicted felon from possessing a firearm, that cross-reference means a felon is already a "prohibited person" under 28-1202 by that route; the felon's remaining question under 28-1202 is only whether the device qualifies as a "weapon," the Williams/Kanger evidence-of-use test above, not whether the felony conviction counts. No capacity or formula cap for pepper spray appears anywhere in Nebraska's weapons statutes.

Separately, using a device to commit a felony carries its own, more serious exposure. Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1205(1) makes it a Class II felony to use "a firearm, a knife, brass or iron knuckles, or any other deadly weapon" to commit a felony, with "use" defined broadly enough to include a visible display or even a communication indicating the weapon's presence, and that offense is separate from, and consecutive to, the sentence for the underlying felony.

Are stun guns legal in Nebraska?

The same absence applies to stun guns and tasers: no provision in section 28-1201's definitions, or elsewhere in the sections that follow it, names a stun gun, taser, or electronic or electric weapon. Section 28-1202's "any other deadly weapon" language, one example among several rather than a closed list plus a catchall, is, as with pepper spray, broad enough in wording to potentially reach a stun gun, and the same rule the Nebraska Supreme Court applies to pepper spray applies here: a stun gun is not a deadly weapon per se because it is not specifically enumerated in the statute, so it becomes one under section 28-1202 only if the trier of fact finds, from the evidence of how it was used or was intended to be used, that it is "capable of producing death or serious bodily injury" under section 28-109(8). State v. Williams, 218 Neb. 57 (1984); State v. Kanger, 215 Neb. 128 (1983). The same 21-and-older age floor drawn from section 28-1201(11) applies.

Nebraska's separate felon-in-possession statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1206, draws the line differently and more narrowly. It reaches a person who possesses "a firearm, a knife, or brass or iron knuckles" and has previously been convicted of a felony, is a fugitive from justice, is knowingly violating a current protection order, or is on probation under a deferred judgment, or who possesses "a firearm or brass or iron knuckles" and was convicted within the past 7 years of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Neither list includes an "or any other deadly weapon" catchall the way section 28-1202 does. On the statute's own text, a stun gun does not fall within section 28-1206's closed list, so this specific prohibited-persons possession offense does not reach it directly. But 28-1206's felon bar has a second effect: it is the state-law disqualification that section 28-1201(12)(a)(i) expressly cross-references to define "prohibited person" for section 28-1202, so a convicted felon carrying a concealed stun gun is already a prohibited person under the broader concealed-carry offense, where the device-as-weapon question is resolved by the Williams/Kanger test above. Possession of a deadly weapon that is not a firearm by a prohibited person under section 28-1206 is a Class III felony; the statute's closed list means this felony-level provision is confined to a firearm, a knife, or brass or iron knuckles.

Using a stun gun to commit a felony, rather than simply possessing one, is a different question. Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1205(1) reaches "any other deadly weapon" used to commit a felony, a Class II felony when the weapon is not a firearm, with "use" defined to include a visible display or even a communication indicating the weapon's presence. Simply possessing (not using) a deadly weapon during a felony is a separate, narrower offense under 28-1205(2) limited to "a firearm, a knife, brass or iron knuckles, or a destructive device," a list that does not include a stun gun by name.

Local ordinances and preemption

Nebraska's local-preemption statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-330, reaches further than a firearms-only reading might suggest. Subsection (2) states that, notwithstanding any home rule charter, "counties, cities, and villages shall not have the power to: (a) Regulate the ownership, possession, storage, transportation, sale, or transfer of firearms or other weapons, except as expressly provided by state law; or (b) Require registration of firearms or other weapons." Subsection (3) declares any conflicting local ordinance, permit, or regulation "null and void." The phrase "or other weapons" appears throughout the statute's operative text alongside "firearms," language that is not limited to firearms specifically, which points toward this preemption statute also covering local regulation of pepper spray and stun guns, not just firearms.

Where you can't carry either device

Nebraska's school-weapons statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1204.04, is titled "Unlawful possession of a firearm at a school" and its operative text uses the word "firearm" throughout, never a broader "weapon" or "deadly weapon" term. Unlawful possession of a firearm in a school, on school grounds, in a school-owned vehicle, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event is a Class IV felony under subsection (1). Because the statute's text is scoped to firearms specifically, it does not reach pepper spray or a stun gun at all.

Nebraska's other place-based weapons offense, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1256, bars knowingly entering or attempting to enter the State Capitol while in possession of a "weapon" or "prohibited substance," subject to exceptions for approved persons, law enforcement, and concealed handgun permit holders. That statute supplies its own narrow definitions: "weapon" means only "(i) firearm; or (ii) knife with a blade over three and one-half inches in length" that is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury, and "prohibited substance" means "explosive, incendiary, or other combustible devices; hazardous materials; or paint or spray paint." Neither pepper spray nor a stun gun fits either definition, so this Capitol-specific offense, like the school statute, does not reach either device.

Neither 28-1204.04 nor 28-1256 being written for these devices does not mean carrying one onto a Nebraska school or the Capitol grounds is risk-free. The concealed-carry offense in section 28-1202 still applies to a minor or a prohibited person carrying either device concealed, wherever they are, subject to the Williams/Kanger evidence-of-use question above. For a student, the school exposure is not merely a matter of district policy: Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-267(5) makes "knowingly possessing, handling, or transmitting any object or material that is ordinarily or generally considered a weapon" grounds for long-term suspension, expulsion, or mandatory reassignment under the Student Discipline Act when it occurs on school grounds, in a school-related vehicle, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event, an open-ended catchall that reaches a pepper spray canister or a stun gun even though the criminal statutes above do not. That is a school-discipline consequence, not a criminal charge, and it is separate from Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-263's mandatory one-year expulsion policy, which is limited to "a firearm as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921" and does not reach either device. Carrying either device after being told to leave, or in violation of posted rules, can also expose a person to trespass liability that has nothing to do with the device itself.

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 Nebraska's pepper spray and stun gun laws as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Consult a lawyer licensed in Nebraska for advice about a specific situation.

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

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