Lights, Lasers and the Law: What Ships, What Mounts and Where Night Hunting Is Allowed

A weapon light is an accessory. So is a laser, a mount, a pressure pad, a battery and a headlamp. None of them is a firearm under federal law, none needs a background check, and all of them ship to your door by ordinary carrier in every state. That is the short version. The longer version covers the few places where a light or a laser meets a rule: the classification of lasers, the state game laws on hunting at night, carrying a light-equipped pistol, travelling with lithium batteries, and the feature-ban states where a rail-mounted light is sometimes confused with a restricted feature. This page sets those out so the rest of the site can talk about lumens.

What federal law regulates

The Gun Control Act regulates frames and receivers, the serialized part of a firearm. A light attached to a rail on that firearm is no more regulated than a sling. The only accessory on this site with a federal rule of its own is the laser, and that rule comes from the Food and Drug Administration, which classifies lasers by output power. Visible aiming lasers sold for firearms are Class 3R or below, five milliwatts or less, and are legal to buy and own in every state. Infrared lasers, which are invisible to the eye and used with night vision, are sold in restricted-power versions to civilians and full-power versions to military and law-enforcement buyers; a civilian IR laser is lawful to own but is only useful with a night-vision device, and export of either kind is controlled.

Feature-ban states

A handful of states define restricted semi-automatic rifles and pistols by a list of features. Weapon lights are not on any of those lists. A pistol with a rail and a light on it is legally the same pistol in California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and Hawaii as it is anywhere else. The features those states care about are threaded barrels, pistol grips on rifles, folding stocks, flash hiders and magazine capacity, and the city pages summarise what each state adds when you order a complete firearm from us. A light never changes the answer.

Carrying a pistol with a light

No state prohibits carrying a handgun with a light attached, and no permit distinguishes between a lit and an unlit pistol. What matters is the holster: a light-bearing holster is moulded to the specific light and pistol, and carrying a light-equipped gun in a holster that does not cover the trigger guard is the mistake that gets people hurt. Where carry itself is regulated, by a permit from a sheriff or a state agency, the rules are the same with or without the light; the city pages cover who issues permits in each state we ship to.

Hunting at night with lights

This is where the law gets specific, and it is state law, not federal. Using a light to hunt deer or any game animal at night is illegal everywhere. Using a light to hunt feral hogs, coyotes, raccoons and other animals classed as nuisance, furbearer or non-game is legal in many states, under conditions that differ by state and sometimes by county. Texas allows hogs to be hunted at night on private land with lights and thermal; Florida allows hogs at night on private land with landowner permission; Georgia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and South Carolina have their own versions, often with a call to the game warden or a permit as a condition. Coyote night hunting with lights is legal in a long list of states, usually with a licence and sometimes with a restriction on the colour of the light or on the calibre. Kansas, by contrast, does not allow the public to hunt hogs at all. Read the current regulations for your state before you plan on a night hunt; the wildlife agency links are listed in the sources on every city page.

Spotlighting and vehicles

Most states have a spotlighting law that makes it an offence to shine a light from a vehicle on land where game may be present while in possession of a firearm, whether or not you shoot. It is aimed at poaching and it catches people who did not intend to hunt. Keep rifles cased in the vehicle when you are using a spotlight to look at deer, and do not shine private fields from the road at night in hunting season.

Travelling with lights and batteries

Lights travel freely. Lithium batteries do not: airlines require spare lithium cells to be in carry-on baggage with the terminals protected, and lights with installed batteries may go in either bag but should be locked out or have the battery removed so they cannot activate in a suitcase. A firearm checked in a locked hard case may have a light mounted on it; the light's battery falls under the same lithium rule. Rechargeable 18650 cells over 100 watt-hours need airline approval, which is rarely an issue for a light but worth checking on a large power bank.

What ships where

• Lights, lasers, mounts, pressure pads, batteries and chargers ship to your door in every state.
• Complete pistols and rifles ship to the licensed dealer you name; the light on a bundled pistol goes in the same box.
• Magazines over a state cap are dropped from orders into that state; a light is never affected.
• Ammunition, where we carry it, ships by ground where state and local law allows.

Lasers on carry guns and in public

A laser on a pistol is lawful to carry anywhere the pistol is. Pointing any laser at an aircraft is a federal offence regardless of power, and shining a laser at a person outside a lawful use of force can be charged as assault in many states. Keep the laser off until the gun is pointed at something you are prepared to shoot, which is also the right way to train with one.

With the legal picture out of the way, the useful reading is the weapon light guide, which explains lumens against candela, and the laser guide. Browse lights and lasers in the catalogue.

General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.