Wisconsin Open Carry

Open carry is legal in Wisconsin. You do not need a Wisconsin Concealed Weapons License to open carry. Local authorities cannot have laws or ordinances against open carry since the state preempts all firearms laws in the state.

The minimum age to open carry in Wisconsin is 18.

Open carrying in a vehicle is NOT Legal.

It is unlawful for anyone (except for law enforcement), including persons with a CCW license, to knowingly carry an unconcealed weapon (firearm, electric weapon, a knife or a billy club) in the following locations:

  1. Any portion of a building that is a police station, sheriff‘s office, state patrol station, or the office of a Division of Criminal Investigation special agent of DOJ.
  2. Any portion of a building that is a prison, jail, house of correction, or secured correctional facility.
  3. The Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, the Wisconsin Resource Center, or any secured unit or secured portion of a mental health institution, including a facility designated as the Maximum Security Facility at the Mendota Mental Health Institute.
  4. Any portion of a building that is a county, state, or federal courthouse.
  5. Any portion of a building that is a municipal courtroom if court is in session.
  6. A place beyond a security checkpoint in an airport.
  7. School grounds and premises:
    1. No one, including a CCW licensee may carry a firearm in or on the grounds of a school unless another specific statutory exception applies.
    2. No one, including a CCW licensee may carry any other dangerous weapon on school premises unless a specific statutory exception applies.
  8. Persons who do not have a CCW permit may not carry a handgun in a tavern and those persons with a CCW license may carry a concealed handgun in a tavern only if NOT consuming alcohol. Wis. Stat. § 941.237(3)(cx).
  9. Federal law applies to the possession of firearms and weapons on US government property

For concealed carry information, visit our Wisconsin Concealed Carry page.
