Ammu-Nation

Updated 29 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Ammu-Nation is the fictional chain of gun shops in Grand Theft Auto. It first appeared in Grand Theft Auto III (2001) and returns in Vice City, San Andreas, the Stories games, Chinatown Wars and GTA V. Players buy weapons and ammo there, with more stock unlocked as the story moves on. It is absent from GTA IV.

What is Ammu-Nation in GTA?

Ammu-Nation is the series' main legal gun store, a play on the words "ammunition" and "nation". The chain has been in nearly every 3D and HD game since Grand Theft Auto III in 2001, which makes it one of the most familiar brands in the series.

The games give the chain a mock company history. According to GTA Wiki, it began life in the 1950s as a gun association with a dodo mascot called Derek, used for safety lessons, and became a chain of stores in 1978. A clerk named Sam serves customers in both GTA III and Vice City. Within the story, the company also opened an online store, AmmuNation.net.

GTA Wiki collects the store's taglines and promotional lines. The one heard most often is "Protecting your rights!", which closes a Vice City radio advert. Another is "America's First Choice in Domestic Ordinance!" In Chinatown Wars the online shop uses "Order The Protection You Need".

The promotional website for GTA III pushed the joke further, presenting the chain as a proud anti-communist business that had been taking on liberals since 1978. GTA Wiki also records that an early version of the Vice City range used images of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev as targets before release.

How do you buy weapons at Ammu-Nation?

It depends on the game. In GTA III, guns sit on the shop floor as pickups with prices next to them, and you buy one by walking over it. From Vice City on, you stand on a marker in front of the clerk and scroll through a menu. GTA Wiki says the marker is pink in Vice City and Vice City Stories, red in San Andreas and yellow in Liberty City Stories.

Stock is tied to progress. In the Liberty City and Vice City games each store carries its own selection, and new guns appear after certain missions. In San Andreas, every store sells everything the player has unlocked so far, though prices in Las Venturas are 20% higher, according to GTA Wiki. Vice City Stories shows a second, lower price in brackets on some items.

The handheld Grand Theft Auto Advance (2004) has its own three Liberty City stores. GTA Wiki says its weapon menu was first planned as a shop counter seen in first person, with the clerk behind it, before it was simplified. In San Andreas the eleven stores reach well beyond Los Santos, with branches in small towns such as Angel Pine, Fort Carson and Palomino Creek.

The store counts above come from GTA Wiki's page on the 3D universe chain.

Does Ammu-Nation have a shooting range?

Yes, in several games. The Downtown store in Vice City has a rifle range challenge that opens after the mission The Shootist. San Andreas has an Ammu-Nation shooting challenge that opens after Doberman, and GTA Wiki notes it is needed for 100% completion. In GTA V, some stores have a range attached, and passing its tests pays a small reward and improves the character's handling of guns.

Why is there no Ammu-Nation in GTA IV?

In the story of Grand Theft Auto IV, strict gun laws have shut the chain down in Liberty City, according to GTA Wiki. The store survives only as cut content and a passing mention. Niko Bellic buys guns from illegal back-room dealers instead, or from the boot of a friend's car, such as Little Jacob's.

Chinatown Wars (2009) brings the name back in a different form. Huang Lee orders weapons from AmmuNation.net, and a truck delivers them to the nearest safehouse. A licence costing $10,000 unlocks the best weapon in each category.

How does Ammu-Nation work in GTA V and GTA Online?

In GTA V and GTA Online, Ammu-Nation is a full weapon workshop. As well as guns and ammo, it sells attachments such as suppressors, torches and extended magazines, along with coloured weapon tints. GTA Wiki notes that most guns come with three spare magazines. GTA Wiki's location list shows stores mostly in the south of the map, around Los Santos, with others in Blaine County, and in GTA Online new weapons are added through updates and some heist gear is sold there too.