OC Defense Spray Product Laws by State

See our full line of OC Defense Sprays here.

As of 2016, pepper spray can be legally purchased and carried in some form by anyone over 18 in all 50 states. However, some states do not have age requirements.
The list below pertains only to restrictions for those 18 or over, but only for purposes of buying and shipping. If your state is not listed, it should be relatively safe to assume that we can most likely sell it to you and ship it to you, but please take note of the following:

Disclaimer: Body Armor Outlet, Inc. provides the information below gathered from several sources free of charge for your convenience. We did our utmost diligence in compiling it and we will continue to update it as we learn of changes to the laws. However, Body Armor Outlet is a private company and not a legal counsel, news source, or traditional information resource of any kind. As such, we bear no responsibility for the information below and we urge you to exert due caution in complying with federal, state, and local laws by checking whatever reliable statutes are available to you.

• Alaska: Legal for adults only, though shipping problems may make this unfeasible in the future. BAO may at some point decide that we can't ship to Alaska.
• Arizona: Legal, but with a 150ml (just over 5 ounces) size restriction.
• Arkansas: Legal, but with a 150ml (just over 5 ounces) size restriction.
• California: Legal for adults only, but with a 74ml (2.5 ounces / 71g) size restriction.
• Delaware: Legal for adults 18 and older only.
• District of Columbia: Registration form must be completed at purchase and forwarded to the Metropolitan Police Department.
• Florida: Legal, but with a 2 ounce size restriction.
• Hawaii: Legal, but with a ½ ounce size restriction. Sale limited to Hawaii licensed retailers only. Even if that weren't the case, shipping OC to Hawaii is prohibitively difficult and expensive.
• Illinois: Legal for adults only everywhere; Chicago has restrictions on spraying OC indoors.
• Maryland: Legal for adults 18 and older only.
• Massachusetts: New legislation since 2015 allows residents to purchase pepper spray without a Firearms Identification Card.
  BAO recommends picking up purchases of OC spray at our store in Salem, NH (call first).
• Michigan: Legal, but with a 1.2 ounce size restriction. Allows spray containing not more than 18% oleoresin capsicum.
• Nevada: Legal for adults, but with a 2 ounce size restriction.
• New York : OC spray products must be purchased in person (i.e., cannot be purchased by mail-order or internet sale) either at a pharmacy or from a licensed firearm retailer (NY Penal Law 265.20 14 (a)), and the seller must keep a record of purchases.
• New Jersey: Legal, but with a ¾ of an ounce size restriction. NJ is another problematic state with laws that may make BAO eventually decide that we can't ship there.
• North Carolina: Legal, but with a 150ml (just over 5 ounces) size restriction.
• Rhode Island: Legal for adults 18 and older only.
• Washington: Legal for adults 18 and older; persons over age 14 may carry with their legal guardian's consent.
• Wisconsin: By regulation, OC products have the following restrictions:
  • The OC spray must have a maximum OC concentration of 10%
  • The weight range of oleoresin of capsicum and inert ingredients of 15-60 grams are authorized. These are between ½ oz. and 2 oz. (14 and 57 g) sizes of spray.
  • The product cannot be camouflaged
  • It must have a safety feature designed to prevent accidental discharge.
  • The units may not have an effective range of over 20 feet and must have an effective range of at least 6 feet.
  • In addition, there are certain labeling and packaging requirements; it must state that it cannot be sold to anyone under 18 and the phone number of the manufacturer has to be on the label. 
  • Lastly, packaging requirements: The units must be sold in sealed tamper-proof packages.

States and cities listed in red cannot be shipped to by Body Armor Outlet or any other retailer outside of those areas, nor can we ship them internationally or anywhere by air.

Some of the information on this page came from here, although many other sources were researched as well.