Pre-trip check · CO → AZ
Driving from Colorado to Arizona?
The law changes the moment you cross the line — what's legal to carry, light, or do in Colorado can be a violation in Arizona. Every status below is live from LawLert's database, dated, and linked to its official source.
What changes for you (8)
ARS 13-3729(B): a class 6 felony to use a drone to photograph or loiter over/near a critical facility (power, water, refineries, prisons) in furtherance of a criminal offense.
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jul 7, 2026
Metal studded tires permitted Oct 1–May 1 only; studs limited to 3% of tread contact area — Ariz. Rev. Stat. 28-958.
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jun 20, 2026
Permitless (constitutional) carry: no permit required for anyone 21+ who may lawfully possess. Optional shall-issue CCW permit (21+, or 19+ with qualifying military service) used for reciprocity and certain locations.
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jul 2, 2026
Adults 21+ may carry any knife concealed; a pocketknife may be concealed at any age. Only those under 21 are barred from concealing a non-pocketknife deadly weapon (ARS 13-3102).
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jul 7, 2026
Not a control state. Beer, wine, AND spirits may be sold at grocery, convenience, and liquor stores under a retail license. Spirits widely available in supermarkets.
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jul 23, 2026
Arizona has no statewide boater-education card requirement to operate; AZGFD courses are voluntary except when ordered by a court after a boating conviction.
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jul 7, 2026
Blaze/hunter orange is not required by law in Arizona; AZGFD encourages wearing hunter orange in all situations except spring turkey.
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jun 18, 2026
State gasoline (motor vehicle fuel) tax is 18 cents/gallon (A.R.S. § 28-5606); heavy 'use class' vehicles pay 26 cents/gallon. A separate 1 cent/gallon underground storage tank tax (A.R.S. § 49-1031) brings the pump…
Full Arizona rule · Official source · verified Jul 3, 2026
Same status
Matching status ≠ identical law — details, limits and penalties can still differ.
Carrying with a permit? Whether Colorado permits are honored in Arizona is its own map — check Arizona concealed-carry reciprocity. And federal land (national parks, forests) plays by federal rules in both states — see the federal-land guide.
Also from Colorado: CO → KS · CO → NE · CO → NM · CO → OK · CO → UT · CO → WY · reverse (AZ → CO)
Colorado to Arizona: common questions
- Do the laws change when you drive from Colorado to Arizona?
- Yes — 8 of the 13 categories LawLert tracks have a different status in Arizona than in Colorado: drones, driving, firearms, knives, alcohol, boating, hunting, taxes. Each is listed on this page with its current status, the official source it came from, and the date it was last verified.
- What are the drones laws in Arizona if I'm coming from Colorado?
- Arizona: Restricted — ARS 13-3729(B): a class 6 felony to use a drone to photograph or loiter over/near a critical facility (power, water, refineries, prisons) in furtherance of a criminal offense. In Colorado the same category is Info.
- What are the driving laws in Arizona if I'm coming from Colorado?
- Arizona: Conditional — Metal studded tires permitted Oct 1–May 1 only; studs limited to 3% of tread contact area — Ariz. Rev. Stat. 28-958. In Colorado the same category is Permitted.
- What are the firearms laws in Arizona if I'm coming from Colorado?
- Arizona: Permitted — Permitless (constitutional) carry: no permit required for anyone 21+ who may lawfully possess. Optional shall-issue CCW permit (21+, or 19+ with qualifying military service) used for reciprocity and certain locations. In Colorado the same category is Conditional.
- Is my Colorado concealed carry permit honored in Arizona?
- Permit reciprocity is decided separately from the firearms status shown on this page, so it is not answered here. LawLert publishes Arizona's recognition list, with the statute or agency page behind it, at lawlertapp.com/firearms/AZ/reciprocity. Permitless carry, where a state allows it, is a different question again — it does not make an out-of-state permit valid.
- How current is this Colorado to Arizona comparison?
- Every rule on this page stores the date it was last checked against its source; the oldest on this comparison is 2026-06-18. LawLert carries 6,693 rules, each with a source URL, and publishes a log of every correction it has made at lawlertapp.com/how-we-verify. Laws change — confirm anything consequential against the linked source.