A number of states, including Connecticut, Illinois, and West Virginia, have deemed gun sellers as “essential” businesses, granting them explicit permission to remain open. Others, like New York and New Mexico, have ordered them closed. 

In states that have ordered gun stores to close, enforcement of the orders is already proving messy — and litigious. In Pennsylvania, gun-rights advocates immediately filed a lawsuit challenging Governor Tom Wolf’s order to close dealers. The state Supreme Court swiftly rejected the suit, but hours later Wolf’s office quietly updated its policy to allow gun dealers to operate on a limited basis. On the other side of the country, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he was leaving the decision the decision to let gun stores continue operating in the hands of county sheriffs. And New Jersey faces multiple lawsuits stemming from its unprecedented decision to eliminate access to the state’s background check system.

We’re tracking the rapidly changing situation on the map below. In states without any lockdown orders or business restrictions in place, gun retailers are presumed to be operating as normal.