Gun Restrictions by State: Assault Weapons, Magazines & Red Flag Laws

While a majority of states were abolishing carry permits, a minority were building the most restrictive firearm regimes in American history. Both trends ran at full speed through the 2010s and 2020s, in different states, at the same time — which is why the gun-law map is not a gradient but a split.

This guide covers the restrictive side: assault-weapons bans, magazine capacity limits, and red flag laws. These are the three policies that most separate the bottom of the gun-rights ranking from the top, and each works in a completely different way — one restricts hardware by definition, one by number, and one restricts people by court order.

The short version

• 10 states plus DC enforce an assault-weapons ban today; Rhode Island and Virginia join them 1 July 2026.
• There is no federal assault-weapons ban — the 1994 law lapsed in 2004.
• “Assault weapon” is a legal category defined by features or model name, not by how a firearm fires.
• 22 states plus DC have a red flag law, which can remove firearms before any conviction.
• Most ban states also cap magazines, usually at 10 rounds.

Features test

A rule banning a semi-automatic firearm based on listed cosmetic or ergonomic features rather than a model name.

Large-capacity magazine (LCM)

A detachable magazine holding more than the state's limit, usually 10 rounds.

Grandfather clause

A provision letting owners keep — often with registration — firearms or magazines owned before the ban took effect.

Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO)

The formal name for a red-flag order: a court order temporarily removing firearms from a person found to be a danger.

Ex parte order

A temporary order a judge can issue without the respondent present, when danger is immediate — followed by a full hearing.

Respondent

The person an ERPO is filed against, who can contest it at the hearing.

Due process

The constitutional guarantee of fair legal procedure. Critics argue ex parte removal strains it; supporters point to the prompt follow-up hearing.

Assault-weapons bans: a legal category, not a mechanical one

These states restrict semi-automatic rifles their laws call "assault weapons," whether by a named-model list, a features test, or both:

The first thing to understand is that there is no single legal definition and no federal one. The 1994 federal ban expired in 2004 and was never renewed, leaving each state to write its own. They generally take one of two approaches:

• A named-model list. Specific firearms, and copies of them, banned by name.
• A features test. A semi-automatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and has one or more listed features — a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a flash hider, a threaded barrel — is banned.

This is the source of most confusion in public debate about these laws. It also means that "is this rifle banned?" has no general answer. It has fifty possible answers, and in a features-test state it depends on the configuration of the specific firearm in your hands.

Colorado took a third route in 2025. Rather than a flat ban, SB25-003 restricts the sale of certain detachable-magazine semi-autos unless the buyer completes a state-approved safety course and permitting step. That is a gate rather than a prohibition, which is why Colorado is not in the list above.

Bans not yet in force

Two laws are on the books but not yet enforced. Rhode Island enacted a ban effective 1 July 2026, and Virginia enacted a restriction including a 15-round magazine cap on the same date. Both appear above, flagged, so the count stays honest: 10 states enforce a ban today; 12 will in July 2026.

Magazine limits: the restriction that catches more owners

Most assault-weapons-ban states pair the ban with a cap on magazine size, and several states limit magazines without banning any rifles at all:

Ten rounds is the most common ceiling. Colorado sets its line at 15, and Vermont splits the difference — 10 for long guns, 15 for handguns. Oregon's voter-approved limit remains tied up in litigation and is not in force, so it is omitted.

Magazine limits deserve more attention than they usually get, because they reach far more gun owners than assault-weapons bans do. A features-test ban affects people who want a particular class of rifle. A 10-round cap affects nearly every common handgun sold in America, most of which ship with magazines holding 15 to 17 rounds as standard. The practical footprint of the quieter law is much larger.

Red flag laws: restricting people, not hardware

A red flag law — formally an Extreme Risk Protection Order — authorises a court to temporarily order someone's firearms surrendered and bar them from buying more, when that person is found to pose a serious danger.

The trigger is a judicial finding of dangerousness, typically threats of violence or self-harm, rather than a criminal charge. That is the defining feature and the entire source of the controversy: the firearms can be removed before any crime is proven.

Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C. have an ERPO statute:

The geography is sharply divided. Coastal and Great Lakes states cluster on the list, while many interior states have moved in the opposite direction, passing "anti-red-flag" measures barring local agencies from enforcing such orders — a direct pre-emption fight that has no equivalent in the assault-weapons debate.

How the process works

The details vary, but the typical sequence is:

1. Petition. Law enforcement — and in most states family or household members — ask a court for an order.
2. Temporary order. A judge can grant a short-term ex parte order quickly if the danger is immediate.
3. Hearing. Within days, a full hearing is held where the respondent can contest.
4. Final order. If granted, firearms stay surrendered for the order's duration, often up to a year, renewable after a further hearing.

If an order is filed against you

Because an initial order can be issued ex parte, the first you may hear of it is when police arrive to collect firearms.

• Comply with the surrender order. Refusing can add criminal charges. Contest the order in court, not on the doorstep.
• You have a hearing, within days, where you can present evidence and challenge the petition.
• Get a lawyer quickly. Outcomes turn almost entirely on that hearing.
• Orders are temporary and appealable. There are processes to terminate one early and to recover firearms when it expires.

Why this one is genuinely contested

Few gun policies split people as cleanly. Supporters point to suicide prevention — which is where the empirical evidence is strongest — and to the chance to intervene before a mass shooting, emphasizing that the orders are temporary and court-supervised. Critics argue that removing firearms before any conviction, sometimes on a one-sided initial showing, strains due process, and worry about false or retaliatory petitions.

Our index treats red flag laws as a mark against Second Amendment freedom, because they expand state power to disarm someone outside the ordinary criminal process. Whether that trade-off is worth making is a value judgement, not a factual one — which is precisely why the rankings let you re-weight the categories yourself.

Restrictions stop at the state line

None of these laws travel. An assault-weapons ban applies only inside the state that passed it, and the definitions genuinely differ between states, so a rifle lawful to own in one state may be unlawful to bring into another regardless of where it was purchased. The same is true of magazines. If you are moving or traveling with firearms, check the destination state's specific model list and features test before you cross — not its general reputation.

How states rank on gun rights

These three policies are heavy inputs into the Second Amendment score, but carry law and permitting matter too. The ban states cluster near the bottom of the ranking, though the order below reflects the full picture rather than any single law:

1. 1. New York —
   0.0/10 (F).
2. 2. New Jersey —
   0.2/10 (F).
3. 3. Hawaii —
   0.4/10 (F).
4. 4. California —
   0.6/10 (F).
5. 5. Massachusetts —
   0.8/10 (F).
6. 6. Connecticut —
   1.0/10 (F).
7. 7. Maryland —
   1.2/10 (F).
8. 8. Rhode Island —
   1.4/10 (F).
9. 9. Delaware —
   1.6/10 (F).
10. 10. Illinois —
    1.8/10 (F).

See all 50 states ranked on 2nd Amendment

See the full gun-rights ranking for all 50 states

Every state scored on Second Amendment freedom — carry laws, permitting, and hardware restrictions — with a color-coded map.