Yes, you can sell ammunition in the United States, and in most cases you can do it without a federal license or a background check on the buyer. Federal law focuses on who is allowed to receive ammunition and on a few restricted categories like armor-piercing rounds. The catch is that state laws vary widely, shipping is tightly regulated, and selling to the wrong person is a federal crime whether or not you’re licensed. The rules are not the same as the rules for selling firearms, and treating them as if they were is where sellers get into trouble.
Who You’re Not Allowed to Sell To
Federal law puts two kinds of limits on ammunition buyers: age and eligibility. Licensed dealers cannot sell handgun ammunition to anyone under 21, or rifle and shotgun ammunition to anyone under 18.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Those age limits are written for licensees, but every seller, licensed or not, has to steer clear of “prohibited persons.”
The prohibited categories include anyone who:
- Has a felony conviction (any crime punishable by more than one year)
- Is under felony indictment
- Uses controlled substances illegally
- Has been adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution at age 16 or older
- Is in the country unlawfully or on a nonimmigrant visa, with narrow exceptions
- Was dishonorably discharged from the military
- Has renounced U.S. citizenship
- Is subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order
- Has a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction
Selling ammunition to a prohibited person is a federal crime, and it applies to private citizens too.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The statute uses the phrase “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe,” which means willful ignorance won’t protect you. If something about the transaction suggests the buyer is disqualified, walking away is the safe move.
Do You Need a License to Sell Ammunition?
For ordinary selling, no. The ATF states plainly that no federal license is required to engage in the business of selling small arms ammunition.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licenses This is the sharpest split between ammunition and firearms: anyone regularly selling firearms for profit needs a Federal Firearms License, but selling ammunition on its own doesn’t trigger that requirement.
There’s also no federal background check for ammunition. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System covers firearms and explosives, not ammunition.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Firearms Checks (NICS) A private citizen can sell ammunition to another person without running any federal check, as long as the seller doesn’t know or have reason to believe the buyer is prohibited.
Interstate sales are less restricted than firearm transfers. The federal rule requiring firearms to move through a licensed dealer when crossing state lines applies to firearms, not to ammunition.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Shipping across state lines still runs into hazardous materials rules and state import restrictions, and the prohibited-person rules follow the sale wherever it happens.
When You Do Need a License
Dealing is unlicensed; manufacturing and importing are not. Under 18 U.S.C. § 923, anyone who manufactures ammunition for firearms must hold a Type 06 Federal Firearms License at $10 per year.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 923 – Licensing Importers need a Type 08 or Type 11 license at $50 per year, and manufacturers of armor-piercing ammunition or ammunition for destructive devices pay $1,000 per year.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms and Explosives Licenses by Types
Reloading cartridges at home for your own use is not manufacturing. Selling reloaded ammunition regularly can push you into manufacturer territory, at which point the license, recordkeeping, and excise tax rules kick in.
Armor-Piercing and Other Restricted Ammunition
Some ammunition is off-limits regardless of your license status. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(7) and (a)(8), it is illegal to manufacture, import, or sell armor-piercing ammunition except for government use, export, or ATF-authorized testing.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Licensed dealers also cannot willfully transfer armor-piercing ammunition, with a narrow allowance for pre-1986 inventory going to government agencies.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 27 CFR 478.99 – Certain Prohibited Sales, Purchases, or Deliveries
“Armor-piercing” has a specific statutory meaning tied to construction materials and intended handgun use, not to actual penetration capability. A projectile qualifies if its core is entirely tungsten alloy, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium and can be used in a handgun. A full-jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber also qualifies if it’s designed for handgun use and the jacket weighs more than 25% of the total projectile weight.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions Standard copper-jacketed or lead-core rifle ammunition generally doesn’t fit that definition even if it can defeat body armor.
Shipping the Ammunition to Your Buyer
Ammunition is a hazardous material under Department of Transportation rules, and getting it from seller to buyer is often the hardest legal step in the sale. Each carrier treats it differently.
The U.S. Postal Service will not accept small arms ammunition. It sits on the domestic prohibited items list with no exception or workaround.9USPS.com. Shipping Restrictions and HAZMAT – What Can You Send in the Mail
UPS accepts ammunition by ground only, within the 48 contiguous states plus intra-Alaska and intra-Oahu routes. Packages must use new corrugated boxes, with cartridges packed in inner boxes, partitions, or metal clips fitted so nothing shifts during transit. Every package requires a DOT limited quantity marking, which is a black-and-white square-on-point diamond roughly four inches per side.10UPS – United States. How To Ship Ammunition
FedEx Ground accepts ammunition, but the process is more involved. Small arms cartridges classified as Division 1.4S explosives can move as limited quantity material under 49 CFR 173.63(b), which avoids full hazmat shipping papers. Fully regulated hazardous shipments require the shipper to complete a qualification process with a FedEx Account Executive, show proof of DOT-compliant hazmat training, and use United Nations Performance Oriented Packaging. Ammunition cannot ship in FedEx-branded boxes, and packages cap at 70 pounds.11FedEx Ground Package Systems Inc. Hazardous Materials Shipping Guide
The DOT limited quantity marking that ground carriers require is a square-on-point shape with black borders and a white center, at least 100 mm (about four inches) per side. Air shipments need an additional “Y” symbol in the center of the diamond.12eCFR. 49 CFR 172.315 – Limited Quantities A missing or incorrect marking can get the package rejected, returned, or hit with DOT fines.
State Laws That Add More Rules
Federal law is the floor. Several states go further, and a sale that’s fully legal in one state can be a crime a short drive away. Common state layers include:
- Point-of-sale background checks for ammunition purchases, including on private sales, in a small number of states. Some of these laws are actively contested in court and have been struck down or enjoined on Second Amendment grounds.
- A minimum purchase age of 21 for all ammunition, going beyond the federal 18/21 split.
- State-issued firearms permits, identification cards, or certificates of eligibility required before buying ammunition, with varying fees.
- Bans on tracer rounds, incendiary ammunition, or other specialty types beyond the federal armor-piercing rules.
- Vendor-only rules that route all ammunition sales through a licensed vendor and effectively ban private person-to-person transfers.
These laws change frequently, and the legal challenges around them are ongoing. Confirm your state’s current statute before advertising ammunition for sale, and check the buyer’s state too if the sale crosses a line.
What Illegal Sales Can Cost You
Federal penalties scale with the offense. Willfully violating the Gun Control Act, which includes the ammunition provisions, carries up to five years in prison and a fine, and certain more serious firearms offenses carry up to 10 years. A licensed dealer who falsifies records or fails to maintain them properly faces up to one year.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
License holders face administrative consequences on top of criminal ones. The ATF can revoke a Federal Firearms License based on a single willful violation, including failures to maintain records needed for firearms tracing and falsified transaction records.14Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Revocation of Firearms Licenses The ATF defines “willful” as intentional disregard of a known legal duty or plain indifference to legal obligations. “I didn’t know” is sometimes a defense; “I didn’t check” usually isn’t.