Louisville, KY Firearms: Local Firearms Preemption (2026)

K.R.S. Sec. 65.870 declares that 'no city, county or urban-county government may occupy any part of the field of regulation of the transfer, ownership, possession, carrying or transportation of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or combinations thereof.' Louisville Metro Government — a consolidated city-county under K.R.S. Ch. 67C — is fully covered by the preemption. The statute permits a person adversely affected by a non-conforming local ordinance to file suit for declaratory and injunctive relief and reasonable attorney fees. Louisville Metro retains a narrow set of remaining powers: regulating firearm possession by its own employees on duty, restricting firearm carry on local-government-owned property under K.R.S. Sec. 237.115 (where permitted in narrow circumstances and subject to state-law limits), and applying generally applicable zoning and business ordinances to firearm dealers. Statewide, Kentucky has been a permitless (constitutional) concealed-carry state since 2019 (SB 150) — any adult 21+ who could lawfully obtain a concealed-carry license may carry openly or concealed without a permit.