Yes, tasers are legal in Arizona. Adults can buy, own, and carry a taser or stun gun without a permit, license, background check, or registration, under ARS 13-3117.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3117 – Remote Stun Guns; Sales Records; Use; Classification; Definitions The law calls these devices “remote stun guns” and focuses most of its rules on how they’re used rather than who can own one.
Who Can Own One
ARS 13-3117 does not set a minimum age for ownership, does not require a background check, and does not prohibit felons or any other specific group from possessing a remote stun gun. That’s a meaningful contrast with Arizona’s firearm laws, which do restrict possession by convicted felons and others. The statute’s silence on these points means the threshold to own a stun gun in Arizona is low.
No concealed weapons permit is needed to carry one concealed either. You can walk out of a store with a taser the same day you buy it and carry it on your person without any state paperwork.
Where You Can’t Carry a Taser
Statewide legality doesn’t override location-specific bans. Federal buildings, courthouses, airports past security, and military installations generally prohibit electronic control devices. Schools and school-sponsored events may restrict them under district policies.
Flying with one has its own rules. The TSA prohibits electronic control devices in carry-on luggage. You can transport a taser in checked baggage, but only if you remove the batteries or otherwise render it inoperable, and you have to declare it to the airline at check-in. Some models use lithium batteries, which triggers additional airline-specific rules worth checking before you pack.
Using a Taser in Self-Defense
Arizona is a strong self-defense state. Under the state’s justification statutes, you can use physical force to defend yourself when a reasonable person would believe unlawful physical force against you is imminent. The force has to be proportional to the threat. A taser sits on the non-lethal end of that spectrum, which makes it more likely to be treated as a proportional response to threats like assault or battery than a firearm would be in the same situation.
Arizona does not impose a duty to retreat before using non-deadly force. You are not legally required to walk away from a confrontation before defending yourself with a taser. Context still matters, though. If you had an easy chance to avoid the confrontation and chose to engage anyway, that fact can undermine a self-defense claim later.
Where people get into legal trouble is using a taser after the threat has ended. Deploying one on someone who is already restrained, retreating, or no longer a danger crosses from self-defense into criminal assault. Pre-emptive use before any threat has actually materialized creates the same problem. Courts look at whether a reasonable person in your position would have felt the need to deploy the device at that specific moment.
Illegal Uses and Penalties
One use of a stun gun carries serious criminal consequences on its own: knowingly using or threatening to use a remote stun gun against a law enforcement officer performing official duties. That is a class 4 felony in Arizona.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3117 – Remote Stun Guns; Sales Records; Use; Classification; Definitions
Using a taser while committing any other crime does not shield you from prosecution for that underlying offense.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3117 – Remote Stun Guns; Sales Records; Use; Classification; Definitions Deploying one during an assault, robbery, or similar offense means charges for that crime, and depending on the facts, the stun gun’s use can support additional charges like aggravated assault under Arizona’s general criminal statutes.
What Counts as a Stun Gun Under the Law
Arizona defines a “remote stun gun” broadly. It covers any electronic device designed to incapacitate a person or animal through an electrical charge, whether delivered by direct contact, by wired probes launched from the device, or by a spark or plasma arc.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3117 – Remote Stun Guns; Sales Records; Use; Classification; Definitions Handheld contact stun guns and projectile-launching devices like the Taser brand both fall inside the definition.
Within that broad category, the statute defines a narrower subset called an “authorized remote stun gun” that meets specific voltage caps, projectile identification numbers, traceable coded material, and a manufacturer training program. That distinction mostly affects sellers and manufacturers, who have to keep sales records tied to a government-issued ID and maintain traceability on cartridges. Those record-keeping rules do not apply to secondary sales between private parties, and a violation of the seller’s paperwork requirement is only a petty offense.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3117 – Remote Stun Guns; Sales Records; Use; Classification; Definitions None of it changes what a buyer can own.
City and County Rules
ARS 13-3117 declares that regulation of remote stun guns is a matter of statewide concern.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3117 – Remote Stun Guns; Sales Records; Use; Classification; Definitions That preemption language means cities and counties cannot pass their own stricter taser ordinances. The rules are the same in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, or an unincorporated stretch of rural Arizona. If you buy in one part of the state and travel to another, you’re following one set of rules.