Gun laws in the US vary considerably between states. The majority of legislation relating to guns is enacted at the state level and these laws are independent of Federal firearms laws. This has resulted in a broad variation of gun laws in all the US states with each state taking a different approach on issues such as permits, carry laws, sales, and self-defense laws.

In some states the firearms laws can be much less restrictive than federal laws. However, individuals are not exempt from federal laws just because the state laws are less restrictive. In most cases it is left to the discretion of local law enforcement as to whether they will enforce federal laws. The Supreme court has ruled in Printz v United States that local law enforcement are not obligated to enforce federal firearms laws.

There are forty states that have a provision that protects the right to own and bear firearms, similar to the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Some of the states that do not have this protection are California, Minnesota, Maryland, Iowa, New Jersey and New York.