North Carolina Pepper Spray and Stun Gun Laws (2026)

North Carolina regulates pepper spray through a general tear-gas possession ban with a self-defense carve-out and capacity caps, and regulates stun guns through the concealed-weapons statute that names them directly. Concealed stun-gun carry off a person's own premises is not a flat dead end: a little-known statutory defense reaches exactly this device. A stun gun is also swept into restricted-place statutes beyond schools, reaching the State Capitol, the Executive Mansion, any courthouse, and parades or demonstrations on public property; pepper spray is not named in those same statutes, and whether it counts as a "deadly weapon" or "dangerous weapon" for purposes of those sections is a real question this page states as a question, not a settled reach.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers North Carolina state law: N.C. Gen. Stat. Sections 14-401.6, 14-269, 14-269.2, 14-269.4, 14-277.2, 14-409.40, 160A-174, and 153A-121. No statute names tear gas, pepper spray, or a stun gun as a subject a city or county may regulate directly; a city or county's general ordinance power under G.S. 160A-174 (cities) and 153A-121 (counties) covers health, safety, and welfare generally, subject to the consistency limits in 160A-174(b), described below. It does not independently check any specific local ordinance.

Is pepper spray legal to carry in North Carolina?

Legal for self-defense for a non-felon, subject to a capacity cap. N.C. Gen. Stat. Section 14-401.6(a) opens broadly: "It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association to possess, use, store, sell, or transport within the State of North Carolina, any form of that type of gas generally known as 'tear gas,' or any container or device for holding or releasing that gas." Several listed exceptions follow, including for military and law enforcement use, but the one that governs an ordinary resident is subsection (a)(7): the ban does not apply to tear gas used "in the home for protection and elsewhere by individuals, who have not been convicted of a felony, for self-defense purposes only," provided the capacity of any device or container does not exceed 150 cubic centimeters, any cartridge or shell does not exceed 50 cubic centimeters, and the device cannot discharge a cartridge or shell larger than 50 cubic centimeters.

Subsection (c) defines "tear gas" for purposes of the section: "any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or combinations thereof which will, upon dispersion in the atmosphere, cause tears in the eyes, burning of the skin, coughing, difficulty in breathing or any one or more of these reactions and which will not cause permanent damage to the human body, and the substance and container or device is designed, manufactured, and intended to be used as tear gas." That closing clause is a design-and-intent requirement, not decoration: a product has to be designed, manufactured, and intended for use as tear gas to fall inside the definition, which is how the statute reaches common OC pepper spray and CS/CN formulations without also sweeping in every substance that happens to irritate skin or eyes. Violating the general possession ban, meaning possessing tear gas outside the listed exceptions, is a Class 2 misdemeanor under subsection (b). The statute does not set a minimum purchase age for the self-defense exception.

Are stun guns legal to carry in North Carolina?

Legal to carry openly or on one's own premises. Concealed carry elsewhere is more complicated than a flat ban: the statute that names the device also supplies a defense written for exactly this situation. N.C. Gen. Stat. Section 14-269(a) states: "It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and intentionally to carry concealed about his or her person any bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slung shot, loaded cane, metallic knuckles, razor, shuriken, stun gun, or other deadly weapon of like kind, except when the person is on the person's own premises." A stun gun is named directly in that list, and violating subsection (a) is a Class 2 misdemeanor under subsection (c).

Subsection (a1), which lets a concealed handgun permit holder carry a concealed pistol or gun, is written to cover only "a pistol or gun," so it creates no licensing path for a concealed stun gun. But two subsections further down, subsection (b1) provides a statutory defense available specifically because a stun gun is not a firearm: "It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that: (1) The weapon was not a firearm; (2) The defendant was engaged in, or on the way to or from, an activity in which the defendant legitimately used the weapon; (3) The defendant possessed the weapon for that legitimate use; and (4) The defendant did not use or attempt to use the weapon for an illegal purpose. The burden of proving this defense is on the defendant." That defense is unavailable to someone carrying a concealed handgun, because a handgun is a firearm, but it is available to a person charged under subsection (a) for carrying a concealed stun gun, provided they can show a legitimate use, possession for that use, and no unlawful use or attempted use. It is a defense to raise at prosecution, not a permit obtained in advance, and the burden of proving it falls on the defendant.

The law-enforcement, military, and judicial exemptions in subsection (b) are not limited to firearms; several of its paragraphs exempt a person from the whole concealed-weapons prohibition regardless of which weapon they are carrying. Paragraph (1) covers armed-forces personnel "acting under orders requiring them to carry arms and weapons"; paragraph (5) covers off-duty sworn law-enforcement officers; paragraph (6) covers off-duty state probation or parole officers. Those exemptions reach a concealed stun gun the same way they reach a concealed handgun. That distinction matters beyond this section, because G.S. 14-269.2(g)(1a), 14-269.4(1a), and 14-277.2(c), discussed below, each separately exempt "a person exempted by the provisions of G.S. 14-269(b)."

Where you can't carry either device

North Carolina restricts both devices in more places than schools. N.C. Gen. Stat. Section 14-269.2 treats the two devices differently from each other on educational property, and treats stun guns differently depending on which subsection applies. Subsection (b) makes possessing or carrying a firearm on educational property a Class I felony, then states: "this subsection does not apply to a BB gun, stun gun, air rifle, or air pistol." Read alone, that clause exempts a stun gun from the felony aimed at firearms. But subsection (d) is a separate provision: "It shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any BB gun, stun gun, air rifle, air pistol, bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slungshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades... firework, or any sharp-pointed or edged instrument... on educational property." A stun gun is named directly in that list, meaning carrying one on school grounds is its own misdemeanor offense even though it escapes the firearms felony in subsection (b). Subsection (e) extends that same misdemeanor to an adult who "cause[s], encourage[s], or aid[s]" a minor under 18 in possessing or carrying a stun gun on educational property, a separate offense aimed at the adult rather than the minor. Subsection (h) provides a safe harbor: a person who comes into possession of a weapon by finding it or receiving it from someone else is not guilty under this section as long as they deliver it to law enforcement as soon as practical. Subsection (g) lists further narrow exemptions, including educational or ceremonial use under adult supervision, a person exempted under G.S. 14-269(b), and a nonpublic-school employee or volunteer who has written school authorization, a concealed handgun permit, and required firearms-safety training to possess a firearm or stun gun on that school's property. Tear gas and pepper spray are not named anywhere in Section 14-269.2, so this statute's school-property offenses do not apply to that device.

Outside of schools, N.C. Gen. Stat. Section 14-269.4 bars any deadly weapon, not just firearms, from certain state buildings: "It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, or carry, whether openly or concealed, any deadly weapon, not used solely for instructional or officially sanctioned ceremonial purposes in the State Capitol Building, the Executive Mansion, the Western Residence of the Governor, or on the grounds of any of these buildings, and in any building housing any court of the General Court of Justice." The statute immediately narrows that last clause for a mixed-use building: "If a court is housed in a building containing nonpublic uses in addition to the court, then this prohibition shall apply only to that portion of the building used for court purposes while the building is being used for court purposes." Violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor. A stun gun is a deadly weapon under Section 14-269(a)'s own list. Most of the exceptions to Section 14-269.4 are firearm- or officer-specific, but two are not: exception (4a) covers any person in a courthouse carrying any weapon in for evidentiary purposes, to deliver it to a law-enforcement agency, or for registration, which is exactly the position of someone carrying in a canister or a stun gun to hand it over, and exception (5) covers State-owned rest areas, rest stops, and hunting and fishing reservations. The pocket-knife exception in (7) is a third general civilian carve-out, not the only one. Section 14-269.4 does not define "deadly weapon" and does not name tear gas or pepper spray anywhere in its text, so whether a spray canister counts as a "deadly weapon" for purposes of this section is not addressed by the statute and is not resolved here.

N.C. Gen. Stat. Section 14-277.2 separately restricts weapons at parades, funeral processions, picket lines, and demonstrations. Subsection (a) makes it "unlawful for any person participating in, affiliated with, or present as a spectator at any parade, funeral procession, picket line, or demonstration upon any private health care facility or upon any public place owned or under the control of the State or any of its political subdivisions to willfully or intentionally possess or have immediate access to any dangerous weapon," a Class 1 misdemeanor. Subsection (b) defines "dangerous weapon" for this purpose as including "those weapons specified in G.S. 14-269, 14-269.2, 14-284.1, or 14-288.8 or any other object capable of inflicting serious bodily injury or death when used as a weapon." Because Sections 14-269 and 14-269.2 both name a stun gun, it is categorically a dangerous weapon under this section. Pepper spray is not named in Section 14-269 or 14-269.2, so it reaches this section, if at all, only through the residual clause covering "any other object capable of inflicting serious bodily injury or death when used as a weapon." Whether a published North Carolina appellate decision has applied that clause to pepper spray specifically is a separate question this page does not resolve; the residual-clause argument is stated here as available, not as a settled classification. Subsection (c) lets a person obtain a permit to carry a dangerous weapon at one of these events from the sheriff or police chief of the locality, and separately exempts a person covered by G.S. 14-269(b). Subsection (d) carves out only a concealed handgun permit holder carrying a concealed handgun at a parade or funeral procession, not a stun gun or pepper spray.

Local ordinances and preemption

North Carolina's firearms-preemption statute, N.C. Gen. Stat. Section 14-409.40(a), declares that "the entire field of regulation of firearms is preempted from regulation by local governments except as provided by this section," and subsection (b) bars a county or municipality from regulating "the possession, ownership, storage, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, taxation, manufacture, transportation, or registration of firearms, firearms ammunition, components of firearms, dealers in firearms, or dealers in handgun components or parts." Every category in that list is scoped to firearms and related items; tear gas and stun guns are not listed, so this preemption statute does not by its own text reach either device.

Subsection (f) is a savings clause that preserves certain local authority rather than granting new authority to regulate tear gas or stun guns: "Nothing contained in this section prohibits municipalities or counties from application of their authority under G.S. 153A-129, 160A-189, 14-269, 14-269.2, 14-269.3, 14-269.4, 14-277.2, 14-415.11, 14-415.23, including prohibiting the possession of firearms in public-owned buildings, on the grounds or parking areas of those buildings, or in public parks or recreation areas." G.S. 153A-129 (counties) and 160A-189 (cities) let a local government regulate the discharge and public display of firearms specifically; neither mentions tear gas or a stun gun. The Chapter 14 sections it lists are the same statewide statutes discussed above, which already reach a stun gun directly through state law rather than through any separate local ordinance-making power.

Section 14-409.40's preemption, on its own text, does not reach tear gas or a stun gun, but that does not mean the question stops there: North Carolina cities and counties hold a general ordinance-making power outside Chapter 14 entirely. G.S. 160A-174(a) provides that "a city may by ordinance define, prohibit, regulate, or abate acts, omissions, or conditions, detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of its citizens and the peace and dignity of the city, and may define and abate nuisances," and G.S. 153A-121(a) grants a county the same power. That general power is not unlimited. G.S. 160A-174(b) provides that a city ordinance is inconsistent with State law, among other reasons, when "(2) The ordinance makes unlawful an act, omission or condition which is expressly made lawful by State or federal law" or "(5) The ordinance purports to regulate a field for which a State or federal statute clearly shows a legislative intent to provide a complete and integrated regulatory scheme to the exclusion of local regulation," while closing that "the fact that a State or federal law, standing alone, makes a given act, omission, or condition unlawful shall not preclude city ordinances requiring a higher standard of conduct or condition." Because G.S. 14-401.6(a)(7) expressly makes qualifying self-defense tear-gas possession lawful, subsection (b)(2) is the specific limit a local ban on that same conduct would have to overcome; a local ordinance that instead imposed a higher standard, such as an additional permit or a narrower place restriction, would not automatically run into that limit the way an outright local ban on conduct the state expressly allows would.

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

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

Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-09-20. Last updated: 2026-09-20.