Police Officer Firearms Qualification: Pass/Fail Standards by State

The Problem with Finding This Information

There's no single place that lists firearms qualification pass/fail standards for every state in a format a training coordinator can actually use. The information exists — buried across fifty different POST commission websites, administrative codes, and PDF manuals, each formatted differently, some last updated years ago, and none of them talking to each other.

We built this page to fix that.

What you'll find below is a state-by-state reference table covering the minimum passing score, the typical course of fire, the requalification frequency, and the consequences of failure for law enforcement officers. We verified every entry against the source POST commission or governing body. Where state requirements have changed recently, we've flagged the update.

Two important caveats before you start scrolling. First, these are state minimums. Your agency almost certainly should — and probably does — set its own standard above the floor. Second, this table covers the handgun qualification standard. Rifle, shotgun, and specialty weapon standards are covered in a separate section below. For the broader context of how these standards fit into a comprehensive qualification program, see our complete guide: Law Enforcement Firearms Qualification Standards.

State-by-State Pass/Fail Standards: Handgun Qualification

The table is organized alphabetically by state. Scroll to your state or use your browser's search function (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F) to jump directly to it.

What the Table Doesn't Show: The Gap Between Minimums and Reality

Seventy percent is the most common passing score in America. That means, on a 50-round course, an officer needs 35 rounds on the scoring area of the target to carry a weapon in public and enforce the law.

Whether that's enough is a question every agency administrator should sit with. The POST minimum exists to prevent the worst outcomes — an officer who truly cannot handle their weapon. It was never designed to define good. Agencies that treat the minimum as the target are building the minimum defensible record, not a training program that produces confident, proficient officers.

The agencies that stand out — the ones that rarely appear as defendants in training liability cases — tend to share a few traits. They set their passing score 5 to 10 points above the state minimum. They qualify more frequently than required. They document everything, including the judgment training that doesn't show up in a marksmanship score. And when an officer fails, they have a documented remedial process that demonstrates the agency took it seriously.

Rifle and Shotgun Qualification Standards

The table above covers handgun qualification. Long gun standards vary more widely and are evolving quickly. Here's what training coordinators need to know.

Massachusetts sets the national high-water mark for rifle qualification: 90% passing score, which is 10 points higher than their handgun standard. The logic is sound — a rifle is a more powerful weapon used at greater distances, and the consequences of a miss are more severe.

Pennsylvania implemented mandatory qualification courses for patrol rifles and shotguns effective January 2026. Before this change, rifle and shotgun qualification courses were optional — agencies could choose whether to use them. Now, any officer authorized to carry a patrol rifle or shotgun on duty must complete the specific MPOETC course for that weapon. Officers who don't carry long guns are exempt.

The universal rule across all states: if an officer carries it on duty, they must qualify with it. That applies to the primary handgun, the backup weapon, the patrol rifle, the shotgun, and any specialized weapons. No exceptions, no shortcuts.

What Happens When Officers Fail: State-by-State Consequences

The consequences of failing to qualify follow a predictable pattern, with a few notable outliers.

In most states, the immediate consequence is restriction from carrying the weapon the officer failed to qualify with. In practice, this means the officer cannot perform the core functions of their job until they remediate and requalify. The specific process — who determines alternative duty, how long the officer has to remediate, how many reattempts are allowed — is usually left to agency policy rather than state mandate.

Georgia goes further. Under O.C.G.A. 35-8-21(d), failure to complete annual firearms training results in the loss of the officer's power of arrest. Not just a restriction on carrying — a loss of arrest authority. That's a powerful motivator and a powerful liability exposure for agencies that let qualifications lapse.

Missouri ties firearms qualification to the officer's state license. Officers who fail to demonstrate compliance with their 24-hour annual CLEE training requirements — which include firearms — by March 15 of the following year may have their peace officer license made inactive at the discretion of the Director of Public Safety. An inactive license means the officer cannot hold a commission until they demonstrate compliance.

Pennsylvania's TACS system (Training and Certification System) provides real-time visibility. If a qualification isn't entered by year-end, the officer's certification shows "expired" in the statewide database. There's no hiding a lapse — it's visible to anyone with access to the system.

For a complete step-by-step guide to building the remedial process your agency needs when officers fail, see: How to Build a Remedial Firearms Training Program That Protects Officers and Agencies.

How to Use This Guide at Your Agency

This page is designed to be a working reference, not a one-time read. Here's how training coordinators and range masters are using it.

Benchmark your agency standard against your state minimum. Find your state in the table. Compare your agency's passing score, frequency, and course of fire to the state floor. If you're at the minimum, consider whether that's the standard you want to defend in court.

Check your long gun coverage. If your officers carry rifles or shotguns, verify that you have a documented qualification program for each weapon type — with a passing standard that meets or exceeds your state's requirement.

Verify your documentation captures everything the table shows. For each qualification event, your records should include every data point in the "Course of Fire" and "Passing Score" columns — plus the officer's actual score, the weapon serial number, the ammunition used, and the certifying instructor's name and credential number. If your records don't capture all of this, you have a documentation gap. A digital qualification tracking system can close that gap and create the audit trail courts expect.

Bookmark this page and check it every January. We update this guide annually. State requirements change, and the trend is toward higher standards, not lower ones.