Question
Answer
If you have a felony conviction, or if you are a juvenile offender, and your right to possess weapons has not been restored, you may not possess firearms, deadly weapons or "prohibited weapons" (ARS 13-3102(A)(4)). A BB gun does not seem to fit the definition of firearm or prohibited weapon. If the BB gun is designed for lethal use, it may be illegal. If unsure, consult an attorney.
Arizona Law defines a firearm as any loaded or unloaded handgun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun or other weapon that will expel, is designed to expel or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive unless in permanently inoperable condition. (ARS 13-3101(A)(4)) The definition of a deadly weapon is anything that is designed for lethal use, including a firearm.(ARS 13-3101(A)(1) The definition of prohibited weapon (ARS 13-3101(A)(7)) is any propellant, propellant actuated devices or propellant actuated industrial tools that are manufactured, imported or distributed for their intended purposes or a device that is commercially manufactured primarily for the purpose of illumination (except legal fireworks), including any of the following:
- Explosive, incendiary or poison gas:
- Bomb.
- Grenade.
- Rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces.
- Mine.
- Device that is designed, made or adapted to muffle a firearm.
- Firearm that is capable of shooting more than one shot automatically, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
- Rifle with a barrel length of less than sixteen inches, or shotgun with a barrel length of less than eighteen inches, or any firearm that is made from a rifle or shotgun and that, as modified, has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
- Instrument, including a nunchaku, that consists of two or more sticks, clubs, bars or rods to be used as handles, connected by a rope, cord, wire or chain, in the design of a weapon used in connection with the practice of a system of self-defense.
- Breakable container that contains a flammable liquid with a flash point of one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit or less and that has a wick or similar device capable of being ignited.
- Chemical or combination of chemicals, compounds or materials, including dry ice, that are placed in a sealed or unsealed container for the purpose of generating a gas to cause a mechanical failure, rupture or bursting of the container.
- Combination of parts or materials that is designed and intended for use in making or converting a device into an item set forth in this paragraph.
- Added:
- Friday, 23 July 2010
- Revised:
- Friday, 23 July 2010



