Can You Legally Use Pepper Spray in Missouri? – My Eyes! My Eyes!
The question gets asked more often than you think. Can you legally deploy pepper spray in Missouri? The short answer is yes, but there are some caveats. Let's explore specifics.
If you Google "is pepper spray legal in Missouri?", you'll immediately see the short answer is yes. The first result I saw was from an online store selling pepper spray so I was more than a little suspicious.
Upon exploring further, I found Survivor Sullivan provided some helpful backstory behind proper pepper spray use in Missouri. They provided the following plain and simple statement:
Missouri places no restriction on formulation of pepper spray for civilian use
But wait, there's more. There is a possible way to get in trouble if you suddenly become a pepper spray avenger. It becomes a problem if you deploy pepper spray as a weapon and not in self-defense. That's a big no-no anywhere.
You mean there are places where pepper spray is illegal?
Wikipedia says that in general pepper spray is legal to buy and carry in just about every state, but there are a dozen or so that restrict how strong it's allowed to be. California used to require that you have pepper spray training before you could use it because...well, it's California. Now, that's not required.
I found it interesting that there are people that use pepper spray in ways not meant to deter a guy who doesn't understand chivalry in regards to ladies. Some groups want it used to break up fights. Interesting.