Regulation of flamethrowers in the United States

In the United States, flamethrowers are broadly legal for personal ownership and use. California requires a permit for the possession of a flamethrower, and only Maryland has outright banned their ownership and use. No federal laws exist regarding flamethrowers, as they are not defined as weapons under the National Firearms Act. The United States is a signatory of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, protocol III of which limits military use of flamethrowers; this does not extend to civilian use.

Beginning in 2015, several companies began selling flamethrowers to civilians. This brought increased interest in their regulation, with unsuccessful attempts to regulate flamethrowers at both the federal and state level as of 2022. Proponents of regulation have highlighted the potential dangers of civilian use of flamethrowers, while opponents have identified legitimate uses and pointed to the nearly nonexistent record of flamethrower incidents in the United States.