Buying a gun in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County

Salt Lake City is the easiest place in Utah to buy a firearm, and Utah is one of the easiest states. No permit to purchase, no registration, no waiting period and, because of state preemption, no separate city or county rules to learn. This guide covers how an online order reaches a Wasatch Front dealer, what happens at the counter and where people around the valley actually go to shoot, as of September 2026.

How an online order works

You pick the firearm here, add it to the cart and choose a licensed dealer, an FFL, at checkout. We ship the firearm to that dealer, not to your house. When it arrives the dealer calls you, you come in with photo identification, fill out ATF Form 4473 and the dealer runs the background check. Once it comes back approved you sign and take the firearm home.

Ammunition, optics, magazines, holsters, cleaning gear and most parts come straight to your address in Salt Lake City, Sandy, West Jordan or wherever you live. Only the firearm itself has to go through a dealer.

The Utah check at the counter

Utah is a point-of-contact state. Rather than the dealer calling the FBI, the check goes to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification, which searches Utah criminal history and juvenile court records alongside the federal system. Most come back in a few minutes. Utah charges a small fee for the check that your dealer will pass on, alongside their transfer fee.

Two things surprise people moving here from other states. First, there is no waiting period at all, so an approval means you walk out with the firearm. Second, a Utah concealed firearm permit does not exempt you from the state check, unlike the permits in some neighbouring states. You will run the check either way.

Transfer fees around the valley

Dealers set their own transfer fee, and along the Wasatch Front it usually lands somewhere in the 25 to 50 dollar range, plus the state check fee. Ask two things before you order: whether the shop accepts transfers from an online retailer at all, and what the total will be including the check. Some high-volume shops in Murray, Sandy and West Valley City do transfers all day and are quick about it; some smaller shops prefer to sell their own inventory and charge accordingly. A pawn shop or a sporting goods counter with an FFL is often cheaper than a dedicated gun store.

Call ahead, give them the tracking number when it ships and ask how they want the package addressed. A dealer who is expecting your firearm gets you out of there faster.

No local rules to learn

Utah preempts local firearm ordinances, so Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County cannot write their own rules about buying, owning or carrying a firearm. What is legal in Blanding is legal in the Avenues. That does not cover private property: a business, an employer or a landlord can still set conditions, and airport secure areas, courthouses and federal buildings are off-limits under separate law. The full picture is in our Utah gun laws guide.

Carry along the Wasatch Front

Permitless carry covers adults 21 and older who may lawfully possess a firearm, concealed or openly. The Utah concealed firearm permit is still issued by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and is worth having if you travel, if you drive to Wyoming or Idaho regularly, or if you want the places a permit opens up in Utah. Our permit guide covers the course, the fee and the provisional permit for 18 to 20 year olds.

Where to shoot near Salt Lake City

The Division of Wildlife Resources runs the Lee Kay Public Shooting Range at 6000 West 2100 South, on the west side near the airport. It is a full-service state range with seven outdoor bays, open year round, covering rifle, pistol, shotgun, trap, skeet, five-stand, muzzleloader and archery, and it also hosts hunter education. Anyone can use it for a range fee; no hunting license is needed. The other state range is the Cache Valley Public Shooting Range in Logan, about an hour and a half north, which has indoor and outdoor bays.

Beyond those two, Utah has no state-run ranges. Most informal shooting around the valley happens on BLM ground in Tooele County, Rush Valley and the West Desert, where target shooting is allowed if you do it safely and the area is not posted closed. Two cautions. The Forest Service has restricted shooting in parts of the Wasatch foothills, including between Ward and Farmington Canyon roads above Davis County, and target shooting is banned on BLM land in the eastern Lake Mountains in Utah County. Metal on rock starts wildfires here, so skip steel-core and tracer ammunition and pick a dirt backstop.

What people in the valley buy

Salt Lake County demand splits three ways. Carry pistols, mostly compact 9mms, because permitless carry made everyone's first handgun a daily one. General-season mule deer rifles in 6.5 Creedmoor, .270 and .30-06 for the Wasatch Mountains and Oquirrh-Stansbury units, covered in our deer and elk rifle guide. And 12 gauge semi-automatics for the Farmington Bay and Ogden Bay marshes half an hour north, covered in our upland and waterfowl guide.

Browse the catalog for current prices and stock. If you are outside the valley, our city pages cover carry, deer units and the nearest public range for 22 Utah cities, from Ogden and Provo to St. George and Moab.

General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.