State regulations on how much ammo a private individual can own?

[readyfireaim]

State regulations on how much ammo a private individual can own or store?

I was just talking to friends about the fact that I hadn't been to the range in a while but had still been buying a couple boxes of 9mm ammo a week to have on hand, and they said they weren't sure if there were any state laws pertaining to how much ammo a private individual could legally store--not that this would necessarily apply to Indiana, but they said that it is in fact an issue in some jurisdictions. Is this an issue in Indiana, or does anyone know about Kentucky law on this?

 

[CountryBoy19]

No regulations on ammo period. Other than federal regulations on age to buy handgun ammo, and you can't make AP bullets. IIRC

Thats pretty much it.

We checked into this just to be sure a few years ago, when we bought a whole pallet of 7.62X39 ammo (60,000 rounds).

 

[Bastispah]

no limit on any ammo.

 

[readyfireaim]

I'm not referring to purchases, I'm referring to quantity of ammo that can be stored in any one place. I only have a few thousand handgun and .22LR rounds at the moment, but just wanted to make sure there weren't any restrictions at least in Indiana. Do you guys know of any such restrictions anywhere in the U.S.? Again, not that I'm worried with the relatively small quantity of ammo that I have currently, but my friend's comment got me to wondering.

 

[ryanmercer]

Yeah you just have to deal with that... my mother and brother and constantly going "you shouldn't have that much ammo, they police are going t come in here and arrest you"... they fail to mention dad was State Police and had more ammo than I do on hand usually (in a larger variety of calibers too!)... but then when I move away for a few months they start barricading doors to feel safe... haha, Also... remember, home invasions more often than not are by people you know... I'd personally keep fairly tight lips about what I had on hand unless you have a Fort Knox safe ( Gun Safes, Fort Knox: Americas Best Made Gun Safes, Hand Gun, Fireproof, Home and Vault Doors ) as that's the only way I'd feel remotely safe they aren't going to break in when they know I'm at work, hunting, fishing, etc.

 

[ryanmercer]

I'm not referring to purchases, I'm referring to quantity of ammo that can be stored in any one place. I only have a few thousand handgun and .22LR rounds at the moment, but just wanted to make sure there weren't any restrictions at least in Indiana. Do you guys know of any such restrictions anywhere in the U.S.? Again, not that I'm worried with the relatively small quantity of ammo that I have currently, but my friend's comment got me to wondering.

This is speculation, but I imagine Kalifornia does... in fact, I saw an article a year or two ago where some guy had 50-100k rounds or something in his house, house caught on fire in a wild fire iirc, and they ended up arresting him for having an 'illegal ammunition cache'. But, perhaps he had a few teflon rounds in a non teflon state or something... I can't seem to find the story again.

 

[INGunGuy]

All I can say is that I sure as hell hope there is no limit on ammunition that can be stored in one place. I do know they have a limit on smokeless and blackpowder, and even primers, so I have to spread that stuff around, but ammunition, nope, not that I have ever read.

INGunGuy

 

[readyfireaim]

All I can say is that I sure as hell hope there is no limit on ammunition that can be stored in one place. I do know they have a limit on smokeless and blackpowder, and even primers, so I have to spread that stuff around, but ammunition, nope, not that I have ever read.

INGunGuy

What's the limit on primers and where can I check out that portion of state law?

 

[snapping turtle]

There are no laws on ammo but black powder is considered an explosive and smokeless powder as flammable. THose are covered under state and local fire regulations and mainly deal with storage and insurance issues. So no laws but regulations.

 

[shibumiseeker]

What's the limit on primers and where can I check out that portion of state law?

It's not state, it's NFPA regulations:
Primer Storage limits

The biggest risk to the average person is that if you had a fire and it was found you were storing larger quantities your insurance company would use that as reason to deny your claim.

 

[Mr. Habib]

The only limitations are the amount of space you have and the size of your wallet.

 

[rvb]

It's not state, it's NFPA regulations:
Primer Storage limits

I've always understood the NFPA to be recommendations. In fact, that link even refers to itself as "The Following Recommendations on Storage and Handling ...." They changed the name of the document to be a "code," but it's not law that I have ever read. Just recomendations to states/municipalities on regulations they can adopt.

There are laws from DoT on transporting quantities of powder/primers, and these are referenced by this document. These are the only federal codes referenced.

Here is a better link: NFPA

I'm in the process of building an ammo/components cabinet based on their guidelines. I cheated and used 1x's for the material, so they are only 3/4" think walls instead of 1". It's in a basement closet w/ floor and two walls being concrete foundation, I put a double layer of 5/8" fireboard on the third wall. Only real points for immediate fire entry are from above and the front. Very worst case, it would not all go at once.

I searched and searched and could find no state or local laws regarding storage of powder or primers or ammo.

More links:
Primer Storage
(some of that's laughable... no more than 1k necessary for a "deeply involved" reloader? Ha. That's often one week's worth of practice and matches. I've loaded 2-3x that in one day.)
Powder Storage

When I was in MD, the LAW was 5lb of powder. (No limit on ammo.)


-rvb

 

[shibumiseeker]

I've always understood the NFPA to be recommendations. In fact, that link even refers to itself as "The Following Recommendations on Storage and Handling ...." They changed the name of the document to be a "code," but it's not law that I have ever read. Just recomendations to states/municipalities on regulations they can adopt.
-rvb

Yep. Which is why the second part of what I wrote:
"The biggest risk to the average person is that if you had a fire and it was found you were storing larger quantities your insurance company would use that as reason to deny your claim."
Was important to what I was saying.

I have a magazine, so storage for me is not an issue

 

[tenring]

I'm going to jail, no doubt about it.

 

[inav8r]

This intrigued me, so I did some googling on the subject. To me, at least, it appears if you get arrested and have more than about 100 rounds in your possession the press thinks you have an ammo cache. That being said, the only stories I could find where people were arrested with large quantities of ammo were arrested because of OTHER ILLEGAL items they had (illegal ammunition, grenades, explosives, automatic weapons, etc). In almost each case the press then spun the quantity of ammo found to make the story more inflammatory (imho).

 

[rvb]

Yep. Which is why the second part of what I wrote:
"The biggest risk to the average person is that if you had a fire and it was found you were storing larger quantities your insurance company would use that as reason to deny your claim."
Was important to what I was saying.

I have a magazine, so storage for me is not an issue

Gotcha, I misunderstood your post and took it as "it's illegal (here are the regulations) but not something that is enforced so the risk is regarding insurance"... sounds like we are trying to say the same thing.

-rvb

 

[DRob]

Illinois

I met a guy from Illinois several years ago who told me they have a limit on ammunition which can be kept in your house. I don't recall the amount but when you exceed it you are required to store the excess outside the home. Seems like he used the word "bunker". I've got another p doggin' buddy in the Peoples Republic of Illinois. I'll ask him.

 

[WileECoyotee]

A little off -topic so please forige me : Is it okay to store ammo in an unheated garage or out building ?

 

[TiminMishawaka]

The biggest risk to the average person is that if you had a fire and it was found you were storing larger quantities your insurance company would use that as reason to deny your claim.

The insurance company can't deny based on this but they can opt to not renew you after the fire. So you'll get your fire claim covered (provided it wasn't arson) but they probably won't continue insuring you. You'll have to find another company.

 

[Bill B]

often times a municipal gov't will adopt various codes wholesale into their own ordinances. The National Electric Code is one that comes to mind off the top of my head, as well as building codes (can't think of the name). It could well be that a municipality has adopted the NFPA standards making it "illegal" to violate them.