Tennessee Pepper Spray and Stun Gun Laws (2026)

Tennessee has no general statute banning, licensing, or capacity-limiting adult civilian purchase, possession, or carry of pepper spray or a stun gun. Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13 is Tennessee's general weapons law, and its enumerated "Prohibited weapons" list in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1302 names explosives and explosive weapons, machine guns, hoax devices, and knuckles, plus a catch-all for an implement with "no common lawful purpose." Neither a defense spray nor a stun gun appears anywhere on that list, and the chapter's general definitions section, § 39-17-1301, does not define "defense spray," "chemical dispensing device," "stun gun," or "electronic weapon." But Tennessee does name both devices by name elsewhere in the same chapter: § 39-17-1309(f), added in 2024 by the Laken Riley Act, defines "non-lethal weapon" to include pepper spray and a stun gun and bars a public college or university from prohibiting an adult from carrying one for self-defense on its campus, with exceptions. Two other statutes reach both devices without naming them: the school-weapons statute's general "weapon of like kind" clause is an open, illustrative list rather than a closed one, and any property owner or government entity in Tennessee may post against "the possession of weapons" and make violation a criminal offense. All three are covered below.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Tennessee state law only, principally Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-17-1301, 39-17-1302, 39-17-1307, 39-17-1309, 39-17-1310, 39-17-1314, and 39-17-1359, plus the school-discipline statute at § 49-6-3401, the school-restraint definition at § 49-10-1303, and the private-security-licensing statutes at §§ 62-35-118 and 62-35-125. It does not cover Tennessee's handgun-carry permit statutes in detail or every municipal ordinance, which Tennessee's preemption statute may or may not reach for these two devices specifically.

Is pepper spray legal in Tennessee?

Yes, outside the restricted settings covered below. No Tennessee statute imposes a general ban, age floor, capacity limit, or purchase restriction on pepper spray, mace, or any other defense spray for ordinary civilian use. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1302(a) states in full that "a person commits an offense who intentionally or knowingly possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs or sells" only the following: an explosive or explosive weapon, a device principally designed for delivering or shooting an explosive weapon, a machine gun, a hoax device, knuckles, or "any other implement for infliction of serious bodily injury or death that has no common lawful purpose." A canister of pepper spray sold and carried for personal defense does not fit that list, and it is not a plausible fit for the "no common lawful purpose" catch-all given that self-defense is its entire purpose. The chapter's own "explosive weapon" definition at § 39-17-1301(4)(A) includes a bomb, grenade, rocket, mine, shell, missile, or projectile that is explosive, incendiary, or "poisonous gas"; an ordinary hand-held spray canister is not within that definition, though this page has not tested every possible commercial chemical-spray configuration against it.

The chapter's definitions section, § 39-17-1301, confirms there is no separate hook elsewhere in the weapons chapter for ordinary carry: of its 17 defined terms, from "adjudication as a mental defective" through "unloaded," none defines "defense spray," "pepper spray," "chemical dispensing device," or any equivalent term. Tennessee's general unlawful-carry statute, § 39-17-1307(a)(1), which applies to anyone (not only felons or other restricted persons) who "carries, with the intent to go armed, a firearm or a club," is also firearm- and club-specific by its own text and does not reach pepper spray, and the felon- and prohibited-person-specific provisions at subsections (b), (c), and (f) reach only a firearm or handgun. So there is no Tennessee statute disqualifying a felon or any other specific class of person from possessing pepper spray the way federal and state law disqualify felons from possessing firearms. Two other statutes reach pepper spray without naming it, covered below: the school-weapons statute's open "weapon of like kind" definition, and the posted-property statute at § 39-17-1359.

Are stun guns legal in Tennessee?

Yes, for the same reason and with the same qualifications. A stun gun is absent from § 39-17-1302's enumerated prohibited-weapons list on the same terms as pepper spray, and § 39-17-1301's definitions section does not define "stun gun," "electronic weapon," "conducted electrical weapon," or any similar term anywhere in Title 39, Chapter 17. No general civilian permit or license is required to buy or carry a stun gun in Tennessee outside the restricted settings below.

Title 62, Chapter 35, which licenses private security guards and officers, names a stun gun by text. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-35-118(a)(3) requires an applicant for private security guard/officer registration who will carry "a club, stun gun, chemical spray, night stick or other less than lethal device" to complete training specific to that device, and § 62-35-125 allows an unarmed or armed security guard/officer, with proper certification, to carry "any other type weapon, including, but not be limited to, clubs or batons, stun guns, the chemical spray known as mace or any other tool or weapon that the commissioner may prescribe" as part of that licensed role. Both provisions govern a licensed security officer acting on the job; neither imposes a permit, registration, or training requirement on an ordinary resident who buys a stun gun for personal use.

A stun gun is also named directly in § 39-17-1309(f), added in 2024, which does the opposite of restricting it: for a public college, university, or other public institution of higher education, the institution generally may not prohibit an adult from carrying a stun gun (defined there as part of "non-lethal weapon," along with pepper spray) for self-defense on its campus. That provision is covered fully in the schools section below.

Where you can't carry pepper spray or a stun gun in Tennessee

Schools. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(b)(1) makes it an offense to possess or carry, openly or concealed, with the intent to go armed, a firearm, explosive, explosive weapon, bowie knife, hawk bill knife, ice pick, dagger, slingshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, knuckles, or "any other weapon of like kind," not used solely for instructional or school-sanctioned ceremonial purposes, in any public or private school building or bus, or on any public or private school campus, grounds, recreation area, or athletic field; a violation is a Class E felony under subsection (b)(3). Subsection (b)(2) is a narrow exception: it is not an offense under subsection (b) for a nonstudent adult to possess a concealed, unhandled pocket knife on school property for the sole purpose of voting in an election. Subsection (a) defines "weapon of like kind" openly rather than exhaustively: it "includes razors and razor blades, except those used solely for personal shaving, and any sharp pointed or edged instrument, except unaltered nail files and clips and tools used solely for preparation of food, instruction and maintenance." Because the statute says "includes," not "means" or "is limited to," nothing in the text forecloses a chemical spray or an electrical weapon from also qualifying as a "weapon of like kind," and neither device is separately named on the section's enumerated list either. For general K-12 school property, this page cannot tell a reader that carrying pepper spray or a stun gun onto a Tennessee school campus, with the intent to go armed, falls outside this felony statute. The next section, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1310, supplies four affirmative defenses to prosecution under § 39-17-1309(a)-(d). The one most likely to reach an ordinary carrier is the fourth, for a person entering the property for the sole purpose of delivering or picking up passengers who does not remove, utilize, or allow to be removed or utilized any weapon from the vehicle; the other three cover lawful-season hunting on institution land, transiting with unloaded hunting weapons, and approved gun and knife shows.

For a public college, university, or other public institution of higher education, subsection (f) of the same statute answers the question directly and in the carrier's favor. Added in 2024 by the Laken Riley Act (2024 Pub. Ch. 791), it defines "non-lethal weapon" as "pepper spray, a pepper spray gun, pepper gel, mace, a stun gun, an electronic control device, or other conducted energy device," and provides that, "notwithstanding subsection (b) or another law to the contrary," such an institution "shall not prohibit an adult person, including, but not limited to, a staff member, student, employee, and other adult person lawfully present on the property" from carrying a non-lethal weapon for self-defense in a building or bus, or on the campus, grounds, recreation area, or athletic field. Two exceptions qualify that right: the institution may still prohibit non-lethal weapons on the grounds of any pre-kindergarten through grade twelve school located on its campus, and in any building where armed security is provided or where a contract prohibits it.

For a student specifically, the more immediate exposure is the school discipline code rather than the criminal statute. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-3401(a) lists grounds for suspension or expulsion, including "(7) Possession of a pistol, gun or firearm on school property" and "(8) Possession of a knife and other weapons, as defined in § 39-17-1301 on school property." Zero tolerance under § 49-6-3401(g)(2)(A), which requires at least a one-year expulsion, is limited to "a firearm, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921," so pepper spray or a stun gun does not trigger mandatory zero-tolerance expulsion. Ground (a)(8) runs through § 39-17-1301, the same general definitions section this page has already established does not define "defense spray," "chemical dispensing device," "stun gun," or "electronic weapon," so that discretionary ground is no broader for either device than the criminal statute is; a locally adopted code of conduct under Title 49 can still reach conduct (a)(8) does not, so a Tennessee parent should not read this page as saying a student faces no school-discipline exposure for either device.

A different, narrower rule sits elsewhere in the education code and governs a different set of people. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-10-1303(7), part of the K-12 restraint-and-seclusion part of Title 49, defines "noxious substance" as "any defense spray or substance as defined by departmental rule" in the context of restraint and isolation techniques school personnel may use on students. That definition restricts what a school employee may use as a restraint technique; it is not a possession offense and does not by itself restrict a student, parent, or visitor from having pepper spray on their person on school property.

Posted private and government property. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1359(a)(1)(A) authorizes "an individual, corporation, business entity, or local, state, or federal government entity or agent thereof" to "[p]rohibit the possession of weapons by any person who is at a meeting conducted by, or on property owned, operated, or managed or under the control of" that entity, by posting a sign meeting the requirements of subsection (b); subsection (a)(2) applies that prohibition to any person authorized to carry a firearm under § 39-17-1351 or § 39-17-1366. Subsection (c): "It is an offense to possess a weapon in a building or on property that is properly posted in accordance with this section," a Class B misdemeanor "punishable by fine only of five hundred dollars ($500)." "Weapon" is not narrowed anywhere in § 39-17-1359 the way "weapon of like kind" is narrowed in the school statute, so a properly posted courthouse, hospital, stadium, employer, or campus can reach pepper spray or a stun gun as well as a firearm. The sign itself, however, is worded only for firearms: subsection (b)(3) requires a prohibiting sign to read "NO FIREARMS ALLOWED," at least one inch high and eight inches wide, with a circle-and-diagonal-line pictogram of a firearm at least four inches high and wide, plus the phrase "As authorized by T.C.A. § 39-17-1359." A carrier of pepper spray or a stun gun who reads a compliant sign sees a firearm-specific warning, not a general weapons notice. Subsection (f) exempts the grounds of any public park, natural area, historic park, nature trail, campground, forest, greenway, waterway, or other similar public place owned or operated by the state, a county, or a municipality, unless subsection (g) applies. Subsection (g)(1) separately bars a local government entity from prohibiting or restricting an enhanced or concealed handgun carry permit holder's handgun on property it owns or administers unless the entity staffs each public entrance with metal detection devices, a trained law enforcement or security officer, and inspection of each person and bag entering. This is a private or government posting power, not a statewide ban, so whether it applies to a given piece of property depends on whether that property is actually posted.

Three federal layers apply on top of Tennessee law; see the federal section below.

Preemption: does Tennessee bar local pepper spray or stun gun ordinances?

Tennessee's preemption statute, § 39-17-1314, is broad but not unqualified about firearms and ammunition: subsection (a) preempts, "except as otherwise provided by state law or as specifically provided in subsection (b)," the whole field of the regulation of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition "to the exclusion of all county, city, town, municipality, or metropolitan government law, ordinances, resolutions, enactments or regulation." Subsection (b) is the carve-out subsection (a) points to: it expressly authorizes a city, county, town, municipality, or metropolitan government to regulate by ordinance or resolution, among other things, the carrying of firearms by its own employees or independent contractors acting in the course and scope of their employment or contract, and, under (b)(2) as replaced effective July 1, 2025 by 2025 Pub. Ch. 329, SECTION 17, the discharge of firearms within its boundaries to the extent that such regulation is expressly authorized by state law. Subsection (f), amended effective July 1, 2025 by 2025 Pub. Ch. 329, SECTION 22 (which struck "of knives and no city" and substituted "of knives and other weapons and no city," and struck "transportation of knives." and substituted "transportation of knives or other weapons."), now states that "this part is preemptive with respect to the transfer, ownership, possession or transportation of knives and other weapons and no city, county, or metropolitan government shall occupy any part of the field of regulation" of those items. The statute does not define "other weapons" anywhere in the section, so its text does not directly answer whether a local ordinance aimed specifically at pepper spray or a stun gun would be preempted the same way a local knife ordinance now is. This page does not identify or examine any specific Tennessee municipal or county ordinance addressing either device, so whether a particular city or county currently regulates them is not established here.

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

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

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