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Indiana Concealed Carry Permit

Indiana allows permitless carry for non-prohibited adults 18+. A LTCH is still available and is what other states recognize.

Permitless carry is legal in Indiana

A non-prohibited adult aged 18 or older may carry a concealed handgun without a permit (since 2022). Re-verified on 2026-09-15 against the official 2026 Indiana Code (Title 35 HTML, compiled 2026-06-23) and the Indiana State Police site. IC 35-47-2-3(a) reads: 'A person who is at least eighteen (18) years of age and is not otherwise prohibited from carrying or possessing a handgun under state or federal law is not required to obtain or possess a license or permit from the state to carry a handgun in Indiana.' ISP's permitless-carry notice states: 'On July 1, 2022, the State of Indiana will no longer require a handgun permit to legally carry, conceal or transport a handgun within the state. This law DOES NOT allow everyone to carry a handgun...' Applies to residents and non-residents alike (the statute is not limited to Indiana residents). Carrying while within a category listed in IC 35-47-2-1.5(b) is unlawful carrying of a handgun, a Class A misdemeanor, elevated to a Level 5 felony if committed on or within 500 feet of school property or on a school bus, or if the person has a qualifying prior conviction or a felony conviction within the previous 15 years. Note the federal-law wrinkle: 18-20 year olds may carry under Indiana law but generally cannot purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer under 18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1). Amendment check: IC 35-47-2-1.5 still reads 'As added by P.L.175-2022, SEC.9' with no amendments; IC 35-47-2-3's history line ends at P.L.1-2025, SEC.230 (a technical-corrections act); IC 35-47-2-21 has never been amended since P.L.311-1983. The five 2026 public laws that touch Article 47 (P.L.76-2026, P.L.94-2026, P.L.145-2026, P.L.153-2026, P.L.158-2026) reach IC 35-47-16 (judicial officers), IC 35-47-9 (school property), IC 35-47-14-1 ('dangerous' definition), IC 35-47-2.5-4 (dealer sales) and IC 35-47-10-5 (children and firearms) respectively - none of them amends the permitless-carry or licensing sections.

Getting the permit anyway is still worth it for most people: other states recognize the permit, not your residency, so without one you generally cannot carry across state lines.

IC 35-47-2-3(a) (permit not required); IC 35-47-2-1.5 (unlawful carrying of a handgun / prohibited persons); IC 35-47-2-1 (construction). Enacted by HEA 1296, P.L.175-2022, effective July 1, 2022.

There are 12 details on this page we could not confirm from a primary source. Read what they are before relying on this.

Requirements at a glance

Permit name License to Carry a Handgun
Issuing authority Superintendent of the Indiana State Police (ISP Firearms Licensing Unit); applications are initiated through the chief of police (or town marshal) of the applicant's municipality or the county sheriff, who investigates and forwards the application to the Superintendent
System shall-issue
Minimum age 18 — 18 for both permitless carry and the LTCH. IC 35-47-2-3(i)(3) bars issuance to anyone under 18; IC 35-47-2-1.5(b)(10)(A) makes carrying unlawful for anyone under 18 (unless authorized under IC 35-47-10, the children-and-firearms chapter). A separate age bar applies to those under 23 who were adjudicated a delinquent child for an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult (IC 35-47-2-3(i)(4)) or for an act described by IC 35-47-4-5 (IC 35-47-2-1.5(b)(10)(B)).
Training required No
State fee $0 initial / $0 renewal — the state's own charge, not the total
Valid for 5 years
Processing time Statutory deadline: every initial application must be granted or rejected within 60 days after it is filed (IC 35-47-2-6(a)). The ISP Handgun Licensing Portal's FAQ gives the same figure as its practical estimate: 'For NEW applications, if there are no mistakes on your application and you have no criminal history, your license should be issued within 60 days from the time your local authority submitted your application to ISP.' Deadline to complete the applicant's own steps: ISP's 'Apply for a New License to Carry' page now allows 365 days from the online application to finish fingerprinting and local law enforcement processing (it previously said 180 days); the portal at firearms.ariesportal.com still says 90 days for new applications, and renewals are 90 days on both the portal and ISP's renewal page. Renewal applications may be filed beginning 365 days before the existing license expires, and if filed within 30 days of expiration the existing license is automatically extended until the application is decided (IC 35-47-2-6(b)). ISP warns of delays in accessing the application portal and in scheduling fingerprint appointments because of application volume, and asks applicants not to call about a pending application unless the statutory timeline has been exceeded.
Fingerprints Required
Non-resident permit Available

What it actually costs

The state fee is rarely the whole bill. Fingerprinting is usually charged by a private vendor, training is bought from an instructor, and several states add photographs, notarisation or other requirements on top.

State fee $0
Fingerprinting $12.95
IN.gov online processing varies — $1.00 plus 2% of the transaction
Realistic total $14–$15

IC 35-47-2-4(b) makes the license itself free for both the five-year and the lifetime class, and since July 1, 2021 local agencies may not charge either (IC 35-47-2-3(d)); ISP's FAQ confirms 'there is currently no fee for handgun license and to carry.' The only unavoidable costs are IDEMIA/IdentoGO fingerprinting ($12.95, charged on new applications) and the IN.gov portal fee, and no training is required, which puts the whole bill around $14. Renewals are also free and, per IC 35-47-2-3(m), should not require a second set of fingerprints. Two states are cheaper still: South Dakota charges nothing at all, and New Hampshire charges residents $10.

IC 35-47-2-4(b): 'There is no fee for a license to carry a handgun.' IC 35-47-2-3(d): after June 30, 2021 the local law enforcement agency 'shall not collect a fee from a person applying for a handgun license.' The five-year LTCH became fee-exempt July 1, 2020 and the lifetime LTCH July 1, 2021, and both classes may be applied for and held concurrently. $0 covers all four license classes: Five Year and Lifetime, in both the Personal Protection and the Hunting and Target variants - ISP's fee page carries two dated tables, and the current one ('Effective July 1, 2021') shows $0 local fee and $0 state fee for all four. Unavoidable ancillary costs remain: $12.95 for IDEMIA/IdentoGO electronic fingerprinting, which the ISP fee page charges on 'All NEW license applications', plus an IN.gov online processing fee of $1.00 plus 2% of the transaction amount (IC 4-13.1-2-4). A duplicate license to replace a lost or damaged one costs $20 (IC 35-47-2-4(b)). Only the handgun dealer license still carries a state fee ($60).

How to apply

  1. First, check whether you need a license at all: you probably do not. Since July 1, 2022 Indiana has permitless carry - IC 35-47-2-3(a) says a person at least 18 years old who is not otherwise prohibited from carrying or possessing a handgun under state or federal law 'is not required to obtain or possess a license or permit from the state to carry a handgun in Indiana.' That applies to visitors as well as residents, so every step below is optional.
  2. Understand the two reasons to apply anyway. (1) Certainty: ISP's own permitless-carry notice says that if you are not sure whether you fall into one of the prohibited categories, 'the Indiana State Police recommends you apply for a state-issued handgun permit,' because 'the permit process is free' and ISP will run the checks against IC 35-47-2-1.5 and IC 35-47-1-7 for you - if you carry without a license, ISP 'cannot verify your compliance.' (2) Travel: IC 35-47-2-3(a) frames the license as the route for a person 'who wishes to carry a firearm in another state under a reciprocity agreement,' and ISP notes 'it may be necessary to have a license to carry if you travel to another state which requires a handgun permit.'
  3. Confirm you are eligible. You must be at least 18 (IC 35-47-2-3(i)(3)); at least 23 if you were adjudicated a delinquent child for an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult (IC 35-47-2-3(i)(4)); free of every disqualifier in IC 35-47-2-3(i) and every prohibited-person category in IC 35-47-2-1.5(b); and a 'proper person' as defined in IC 35-47-1-7. No training course, safety class or live-fire demonstration is required at any point.
  4. Choose your license class before you start, because the portal warns that 'once you have submitted the firearm application, the license type cannot be changed.' You pick a term - five-year or lifetime - and a type - Personal Protection or Hunting and Target. All four are $0 under the ISP fee schedule effective July 1, 2021, and the five-year and lifetime licenses may be applied for and held concurrently. Restrictions: IC 35-47-2-4(d) bars the Superintendent from issuing a lifetime license to a resident of another state, and ISP states that applicants who are not U.S. citizens, including permanent residents, 'shall only be issued a 5 year handgun license.'
  5. Step 1 - file the application online. Complete a 'Handgun License Application' at the Indiana State Police Handgun Licensing Portal, https://firearms.ariesportal.com/. There is no fee for the license itself; the IN.gov portal adds a processing charge of $1.00 plus 2% of the transaction amount (IC 4-13.1-2-4). Save the application number and password the portal gives you - you need them to check status, and ISP will not release status by telephone.
  6. Non-resident route: if you live in another state but have a regular place of business or employment in Indiana, you apply through the sheriff of the county where that business or employment is (IC 35-47-2-3(a)(2)), and the portal requires you to upload two extra documents - a printed, completed, signed and notarized Out-of-State Affidavit stating you meet the out-of-state residence requirements, and proof of employment on company letterhead.
  7. Step 2 - get fingerprinted electronically. Schedule an appointment through the state's IdentoGO/IDEMIA scheduler at https://in.ibtfingerprint.com/. The fee is $12.95 for new applications. ISP will not accept fingerprint cards at its offices or by mail and will return any that arrive. Canadian applicants must call IDEMIA at 1-877-472-6917 to arrange an out-of-state records check. If you cannot get an appointment, ISP directs complaints to the Indiana Department of Administration at 1-877-472-6917.
  8. Step 3 - go to your local law enforcement agency. That is the police department or town marshal of the city or town where you live if you live inside the city limits, or the county sheriff if you live outside them. Under IC 35-47-2-3(e) that officer records your personal and criminal-history details, investigates your character and reputation, verifies the application, consults local, state and federal criminal-history databanks including NICS, and forwards the file, a recommendation, and one set of legible and classifiable fingerprints to the Superintendent. No local fee may be charged: IC 35-47-2-3(d) has barred local agencies from collecting an application fee since July 1, 2021, notwithstanding the portal's stale reference to paying local fees at this step.
  9. Watch the deadline to finish Steps 2 and 3, and note that ISP's own sources disagree about it. The 'Apply for a New License to Carry' page says you have 365 days; the firearms.ariesportal.com portal says 90 days for a new application. Treat 90 days as the safe assumption, and confirm with your local agency. If the application expires you can sign back into the portal and follow the duplicate/status-update prompts rather than starting over.
  10. Wait for the decision. The Superintendent must grant or reject every initial application within 60 days after filing (IC 35-47-2-6(a)), and issues the license if you have a proper reason, are of good character and reputation, are a proper person, and are a U.S. citizen or a non-citizen allowed to carry a firearm under federal law (IC 35-47-2-3(g)). An approved license arrives by U.S. Mail. Check progress by signing in at the portal with your application number and password, or by taking a driver's license or state ID to your local agency or to ISP at 100 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis.
  11. If you are denied, appeal in writing. ISP notifies denials by U.S. Mail with appeal instructions; ISP's appeal-process page directs a written request by mail to the Firearms License Unit, Indiana State Police, 100 N. Senate Avenue, Suite N302, Indianapolis IN 46204, and says an electronic appeals process is 'coming soon,' while the ISP FAQ describes completing an Appeals Request Form and uploading it to your application through the portal using your application ID.
  12. After you hold a license: notify the Superintendent in writing within 30 days of any change - including an arrest or conviction - that may affect your status as a proper person, and within 60 days of a change of name or address (IC 35-47-2-3(k)); name and address changes must be done through the portal, as ISP no longer accepts paper forms. Renewal uses the same three steps with no fee, may be filed from 365 days before expiration, and normally does not require new fingerprints because IC 35-47-2-3(m) requires ISP to keep a set on file - though ISP's renewal page still lists a fingerprint appointment as Step 2. A lifetime license never needs renewing but is automatically revoked if the holder ceases to be a proper person (IC 35-47-2-3(g)).

Apply on the official Indiana site

What disqualifies you

Where to get the required training

Indiana does not publish a central list of certified instructors. Confirm directly with Superintendent of the Indiana State Police (ISP Firearms Licensing Unit); applications are initiated through the chief of police (or town marshal) of the applicant's municipality or the county sheriff, who investigates and forwards the application to the Superintendent that a course will be accepted before you pay for it.

Training providers in Indiana

Businesses in our directory that offer firearms training. These are not state-verified as certified permit instructors — check against the official list above, or ask the provider directly.

All firearms training in Indiana →

Reciprocity

Carrying into Indiana

Indiana recognizes permits from 50 other jurisdictions.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming

29 jurisdictions honor a Indiana permit

Derived from what each of those states officially publishes.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming

Official Indiana reciprocity page Full reciprocity matrix →

Building your own in Indiana

Build for personal use
Allowed
Serial number required
No

Indiana has no firearm registry of any kind and no state manufacturing license for a non-commercial builder. Limits that still apply: a person prohibited under IC 35-47-2-1.5 or 18 U.S.C. 922(g) may not make or possess a firearm; IC 35-47-5-8 makes knowing or intentional ownership or possession of a machine gun a Level 5 felony (IC 35-47-5-10 excepts persons in compliance with the federal NFA); and federal law independently governs home manufacture, including the Undetectable Firearms Act, the NFA, the prohibition on manufacturing for sale without an FFL, and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F, which requires an FFL to serialize a privately made firearm it takes into inventory. Nothing here should be read as covering the separate question of building a firearm for sale or distribution, which triggers federal licensing.

No Indiana statute regulates the manufacture or assembly of a firearm for personal use. Re-confirmed on 2026-09-15 by full-text search of IC 35-47 (Weapons and Instruments of Violence) in the official 2026 Indiana Code: the article contains zero occurrences of 'unfinished', 'receiver', 'privately made', 'untraceable', 'self-assembled', '3-D'/'three-dimensional' or 'serialize', so there is no provision on unfinished frames or receivers, self-assembled or 3-D printed firearms, or serialization or registration of a self-made firearm. IC 35-47-2-18 is the only serial-number statute and it reaches only pre-existing marks: 'No person shall: (1) remove, obliterate, or alter the importer or manufacturer's serial number on any firearm; or (2) possess any firearm on which the importer or manufacturer's serial number has been removed, obliterated, or altered' (Level 5 felony). A firearm that never bore an importer's or manufacturer's serial number is outside its terms. IC 35-47-11.1-2 through -4 also void local ordinances that restrict the lawful manufacture of firearms, so no Indiana city or county may impose a serialization rule.

Federal law, gunsmithing schools, and tools →

Statutes

What we could not confirm

  • permitSystem is recorded as shall-issue, which is the standard classification and matches the objective 'proper person' definition in IC 35-47-1-7, but the text of IC 35-47-2-3(g) still conditions issuance on the Superintendent finding the applicant 'has a proper reason for receiving a license' and 'is of good character and reputation.' Those clauses read as discretionary on their face. I found no official ISP page defining how they are applied, and no post-Bruen Indiana guidance or litigation confirming they are non-discretionary. The point is largely academic because no permit is needed to carry at all.
  • validityYears is set to 5 because that is the standard term (IC 35-47-2-4(a)(1)), but the schema's single number cannot express that Indiana also issues a lifetime LTCH valid for the life of the holder, and that the two may be applied for and held concurrently. Every figure in fees and costs is $0 for both classes, so no number in this record depends on which class you pick. A lifetime license is automatically revoked if the holder ceases to be a proper person. Licenses of police officers, sheriffs and deputies, and federal law enforcement officers with 20 or more years of service are also valid for life.
  • nonResidentPermitAvailable is true but the schema cannot express the conditions. A non-resident qualifies only if he or she has a regular place of business or employment in Indiana (IC 35-47-2-3(a)(2)), applies through the sheriff of that county, and uploads a notarized Out-of-State Affidavit plus proof of employment on company letterhead. IC 35-47-2-4(d) bars the Superintendent from issuing a lifetime license to a non-resident, so a non-resident can hold only the five-year Personal Protection license. ISP separately states that applicants who are not U.S. citizens, including permanent residents, are issued only the five-year license. None of this matters for merely carrying in Indiana, where permitless carry covers visitors.
  • The deadline to complete Steps 2 and 3 of a new application is stated inconsistently across official ISP sources as of 2026-09-15. The ISP 'Apply for a New License to Carry' page, which the ISP home page promotes under a 'NEW! Firearms License Application Process' banner, says 365 days in its current step text - but the same page's HTML still contains older 180-day and 90-day blocks, and the ISP-operated portal at firearms.ariesportal.com says 90 days for new applications. Renewals are 90 days on both the portal and the ISP renewal page. An applicant should assume 90 days and confirm with the local agency. Nothing in IC 35-47-2 sets this window at all; it is administrative.
  • The Personal Protection versus Hunting and Target distinction survives as a license-type choice in the portal (which warns the type cannot be changed after submission) and as separate rows in the ISP fee table, and it is tied to the 'proper reason for receiving a license' language in IC 35-47-2-3(g). Both types now cost $0, so the choice carries no fee consequence, but I could not find any current official page explaining what practical difference the two types make to where or why the holder may carry.
  • reciprocity.honors lists DC even though IC 35-47-2-21(b) says only 'other states or foreign countries.' Whether that phrase reaches the District of Columbia and U.S. territories (PR, VI, GU, MP, AS) is not addressed by the statute, by ISP, or by any official source I located, so I omitted the territories rather than guess. This is low-stakes in practice: a visitor 18 or older who is not a prohibited person may carry in Indiana with no permit regardless of what license they hold.
  • The Indiana General Assembly's code site at iga.in.gov is a JavaScript application that does not render to a plain HTTP client, so the section-anchor URLs in statuteCitations and sources cannot be read without a browser (they return the app shell, HTTP 200). I did not rely on them: I downloaded the General Assembly's own 2026 Indiana Code HTML archive (compiled 2026-06-23), extracted Title 35, and read the full text of IC 35-47 from it, including each section's 'As added by / Amended by' history line. A per-chapter PDF the General Assembly serves at iga.in.gov/static-documents/.../TITLE35_AR47_ch2.pdf also returns only the app shell to a direct request, and api.iga.in.gov requires an API key.
  • homeManufacture.serialRequired is set to false on the strength of a negative finding: a full-text keyword search of IC 35-47 in the official 2026 Indiana Code turned up no provision on self-made firearms, unfinished receivers, or serialization of privately made firearms. Negative findings are weaker than a positive citation. I did not exhaustively search Indiana Code titles outside Title 35, and local ordinances are preempted but not something I checked individually.
  • No official ISP page states a typical real-world processing time. The 60-day figure is the statutory deadline in IC 35-47-2-6(a); the portal FAQ repeats 60 days as an expectation for a clean application but measures it from the date the local agency transmits, not from the date you apply, so total elapsed time depends on how quickly you get a fingerprint appointment and a local-agency visit. ISP's own pages warn of delays in both.
  • ISP's pages contradict each other on whether an Indiana LTCH substitutes for a NICS check at a dealer: the firearms-licensing landing page says a five-year or lifetime LTCH issued within the past five years 'will qualify as an alternative to the NICS background check requirement,' while the ISP 'I need to ...' page says it 'will NOT qualify' and that only ATF can certify it. This record makes no claim either way; a buyer should assume a NICS check will be run.
  • Indiana publishes no list of state-certified instructors because no training is required, so instructorRegistryUrl is null rather than unverified.
  • Everything above reflects the 2026 Indiana Code as compiled by the Indiana General Assembly on 2026-06-23. I checked the amendment-history line of every section this record relies on and accounted for each entry: IC 35-47-2-3 ends at P.L.1-2025 SEC.230, IC 35-47-2-4 at P.L.9-2024 SEC.539, IC 35-47-2-1.5 at its addition by P.L.175-2022 SEC.9, IC 35-47-2-6 at P.L.47-2010 SEC.2, IC 35-47-2-18 at P.L.142-2020 SEC.73, and IC 35-47-2-21 has never been amended. I also swept all of Article 47 for 2025 and 2026 public laws and confirmed that the five 2026 acts appearing there (P.L.76-2026, P.L.94-2026, P.L.145-2026, P.L.153-2026, P.L.158-2026) amend other chapters, not the carry-licensing or permitless-carry sections. The residual risk is an act taking effect after the 2026-06-23 compilation date; I saw no evidence of one affecting carry licensing.

Sources