Concealed Carry Banned in Southern Nevada in 1852!

Did you know that carrying a concealed weapon in Southern Nevada (what is today Clark County, mostly) was illegal from 1852-1863?

Clark County and the southern bits of Nye and Lincoln Counties were part of New Mexico Territory, originally. Interestingly, New Mexico Territory was a slave territory, thus slavery was legal in Las Vegas (although there were no slaves here or west of the Colorado River). 

New Mexico banned concealed carry in towns and settlements from 1852. In 1863, during the Civil War, Congress created Arizona Territory from the western half of New Mexico. Pah-Ute County comprised the Southern Nevada area. In 1866, this area became part of Nevada, which got its statehood in 1864.

Learn more about the law at our project of when each state banned concealed carry.