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Florida Gun Laws 2026: Carrying, Open Carry, and What Visitors Can Buy

Florida's carry laws changed twice in the last year, and both changes came from the courts rather than the legislature. Most of what is published online about this is out of date. Here is where the law actually stands, with every statement cited to the statute or the opinion it comes from.

This is not legal advice, and we are not your lawyers. Burnt Offerings Defense is a licensed firearms dealer and manufacturer. We are not a law firm, we do not practise law, and nothing on this page is legal advice or a legal opinion. Reading it creates no attorney-client relationship and no advisory relationship of any kind.

This page states what is known to us as of 8 September 2026, and no later. Firearm law changes — sometimes overnight, by court order — and several of the rules described here rest on recent appellate decisions rather than settled statute. What was accurate on the date above may not be accurate when you read it.

If you need to know how the law applies to you, get legal representation. Hire a Florida attorney who practises firearms law and ask them about your own circumstances. We have linked every statute and case below so you or your lawyer can read the source text directly rather than taking our word for it. If you are unsure whether something is lawful, do not do it until you know.

What changed, and why nobody's page is right

Two Florida appellate decisions rewrote carry law in the space of nine months. Neither one changed a word of the statute book — the invalidated text is still sitting there, struck down but not repealed.

Open carryNow lawful. In McDaniels v. State (1st DCA, 10 Sept 2025) the court declared Fla. Stat. § 790.053, Florida's open carry ban, unconstitutional. The Attorney General instructed every agency in the state five days later that the decision "is now the law of the State" and that officers should not arrest law-abiding people carrying openly.
Age 18–20A court struck the age limit. In Eubanks v. State (4th DCA, 17 June 2026) the court held the 21-and-over requirement in § 790.06(2)(b) unconstitutional as to 18-to-20-year-olds, and the Attorney General declined to appeal. The statute itself still reads 21 and has not been amended. If you are 18 to 20 and want to know where you stand, read the opinion and speak to a Florida attorney — we are not going to tell you it is settled.
Buying at 18–20Still illegal. § 790.065(13) is untouched: "A person younger than 21 years of age may not purchase a firearm." A bill to change it (HB 133) passed the House in January 2026 and died in the Senate in March.

Worth understanding: both changes rest on decisions of district courts of appeal plus the Attorney General declining to enforce, not on repealed statutes or a Florida Supreme Court ruling. That is a less stable footing than legislation. A different appellate district could rule the other way and put any of this back in play.

Visiting Florida? Start here

Pick your home state. The answers below come from Fla. Stat. § 790.015, the non-resident carry statute, and from federal law on purchases.

Carrying and buying in Florida as a visitor

Going the other way? Whether your state honors a Florida licence is a separate question with a separate list, maintained by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. We deliberately don't reproduce it here, because a stale copy of that list is exactly how people get arrested. Check the current FDACS advisory directly before you travel.

Carrying concealed without a permit

Florida has had permitless carry since 1 July 2023. Fla. Stat. § 790.01(1) authorises you to carry concealed if you are either licensed under § 790.06, or not licensed but you "otherwise satisfy the criteria for receiving and maintaining such a license."

The cross-reference is doing something specific. § 790.01(1)(b) picks up § 790.06(2)(a)–(f) and (i)–(n) — and deliberately skips (g) and (h), which are the "desires a legal means to carry" declaration and the training requirement. So a permitless carrier is held to every eligibility standard a licensee is, minus the course.

The residency criterion it does pick up, § 790.06(2)(a), asks whether you are "a resident of the United States" — not of Florida. That is why permitless carry covers visitors as well as residents.

Two obligations that come with carrying unlicensed, both in § 790.013: you must carry valid identification whenever you are armed and show it on demand ($25 non-criminal fine if you don't), and you are bound by the prohibited-locations list in § 790.06(12) "in the same manner as a person who is licensed."

Carrying while ineligible is not a technicality. A concealed weapon is a first-degree misdemeanour under § 790.01(2); a concealed firearm is a third-degree felony under § 790.01(3).

Open carry after McDaniels

You may now carry a firearm openly in Florida. The statute banning it, § 790.053, was declared unconstitutional in McDaniels and the Attorney General has told every prosecutor and law enforcement agency in Florida to stop enforcing it.

What the Attorney General's 15 September 2025 memorandum expressly did not disturb:

Any establishment can ask you to leave, and you have to go

This is the part that catches people out, and it did not change when open carry became lawful. Carrying a firearm — openly, concealed, licensed, unlicensed — gives you no right to be anywhere. Property rights are separate from carry rights, and property rights win.

Any business, restaurant, shop, office, church, private club, landlord or homeowner in Florida may decide it does not want an armed person on its property. They do not need a posted sign, they do not need a policy, and they do not need to give you a reason. A manager who asks you to leave is exercising the same authority they would use to remove someone for any other reason.

If you are asked to leave, leave. Immediately, and without arguing the point. You are free to disagree, to never shop there again, and to say so publicly afterwards. What you cannot do is stay.

Refusing to go turns a lawful situation into a criminal one. Under Fla. Stat. § 810.09(2)(c), trespass while armed with a firearm or other dangerous weapon is charged as a third-degree felony rather than the misdemeanour it would otherwise be. Being lawfully armed does not soften that — it is the thing that elevates the charge. We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice, but we would not want anyone reading our website to learn this the hard way.

Practically: if a sign on the door says no firearms, that sign is not itself a criminal statute in Florida, but it is a clear statement of what the owner wants. Ignoring it and being noticed usually ends with someone asking you to leave — and at that moment you are back in the paragraph above. Our advice is to respect the sign and take your business elsewhere.

Our own view, for whatever it is worth: just because you may does not mean you should. Open carry is lawful and we will not lecture you about exercising it. But it invites attention, conversation, and occasionally a police response from someone who has not read the memo. Most of our customers who can carry concealed, do.

Where you cannot carry — the complete list

These come from Fla. Stat. § 790.06(12). They apply to licence holders and, through § 790.013(2), to permitless carriers as well. Knowingly violating them is a second-degree misdemeanour.

Two things this list does not stop: you may keep a firearm in your vehicle for lawful purposes (§ 790.06(12)(b)), and the employee-parking-lot protections of § 790.251(7) are preserved (§ 790.06(12)(c)).

Treat every location on that list as off-limits, however you are carrying and whether or not you hold a licence. That is the only advice we are prepared to give here.

Florida's carry law changed through the courts in 2025 and 2026, faster than the statute book did, and we are not attorneys and will not try to parse how each prohibition applies to each way of carrying. Read § 790.06(12) yourself and ask a Florida attorney if your situation is close to any line. Being the test case is expensive, and the cautious reading costs you nothing.

Schools and the 1,000-foot zone

Fla. Stat. § 790.115 makes exhibiting a weapon in a rude, careless, angry or threatening manner on or within 1,000 feet of school property a third-degree felony, and separately bans possession on school property.

Federal law adds another layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), the Gun-Free School Zones Act, possessing a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school is a federal offence — with an exception at § 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) for a person licensed by the state where the school zone is located.

Read that exception carefully, because it is one of the strongest practical arguments for holding a Florida licence. A permitless carrier is not licensed by anyone, so arguably gets no benefit from it. And a Georgia permit does not cover a Florida school zone. In a state as dense with schools as Florida, that 1,000-foot radius covers a great deal of ordinary road.

In your vehicle

The controlling provision is Fla. Stat. § 790.25(4). Note that this was renumbered in the 2023 amendments — older articles and forum posts still cite § 790.25(5), which no longer exists.

No licence, not eligible for permitless carryIf you are 18 or older and in lawful possession, you may keep a handgun in the vehicle if it is securely encased or not readily accessible for immediate use. The statute is explicit that you may not carry it on your person.
Licensed, or eligible for permitless carryYou may carry concealed on your person in the vehicle. No encasement required.
Long gunsA legal firearm other than a handgun may be carried anywhere in a private conveyance for a lawful use, with no encasement requirement.

"Securely encased" is defined at § 790.001 and is more forgiving than people expect: a glove compartment whether or not locked, snapped in a holster, in a gun case whether or not locked, in a zippered gun case, or in a closed box or container requiring a lid to be opened. "Readily accessible for immediate use" means carried on the person or close enough to be retrieved as quickly as if it were.

Do you still need a Florida licence?

Legally, no. Practically, there are five things a licence gives you that permitless carry does not.

No waiting periodThis is the big one, and the one we see at our own counter. § 790.0655 imposes a three-day wait between purchase and delivery of any firearm — and exempts holders of a licence issued under § 790.06. Permitless carry gets you nothing here. Neither does an out-of-state permit — the exemption names a Florida licence, so if yours was issued by another state, you wait. A Florida licence means you take it home the same day.
TravelPermitless carry stops at the state line. A Florida licence is honored by roughly three dozen states. Check the current FDACS list before each trip.
School zonesThe federal § 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) exception is available to state licensees. It is not available to unlicensed carriers.
Places of worship§ 790.06(13) speaks specifically to "a person licensed under this section" carrying on church, synagogue or other religious institution property. Read the subsection yourself, and note that a religious institution is private property and can ask anyone to leave regardless.
State-law background check§ 790.065(1)(b) exempts licence holders from the state records-check requirement.

One point where our practice differs from what you may have been told. We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice — but as a dealer we have to decide how to run our own counter, and here is how we run it and why.

We run a background check on every transfer, licence or no licence. That is our practice and it is not going to change at the counter.

The reason we give when customers ask: ATF publishes a Brady Permit Chart listing which state permits it treats as an alternative to a NICS check, and as of its 18 June 2026 update Florida's carry licence is not on the qualifying list. Read the chart yourself — it is short, and it is ATF's own document.

The state waiting-period and records-check exemptions described above are separate from this and we are not disputing them. If you think our practice is wrong, please take it up with ATF or with an attorney rather than with the person behind our counter. We are not lawyers and we are not going to argue the law with you — we are just telling you what we do.

The licence itself

Governed by § 790.06 and administered by FDACS. The statutory fee is capped at $55 new and $45 renewal, plus fingerprinting; the licence runs seven years; and FDACS has a statutory deadline of 90 days to issue or deny. Training can be satisfied by a hunter safety course, an NRA course, military service, a shooting competition, prior licensure, or a course from a state- or NRA-certified instructor.

Florida issues to non-residents as well — § 790.06(2)(a) requires only U.S. residency, not Florida residency. If you are a snowbird who buys here regularly, a Florida licence is worth more to you than your home-state one, because it is what exempts you from the three-day wait.

Buying a firearm in Florida as an out-of-state resident

The short version, then the detail.

Rifle or shotgunYes — face-to-face, in our shop. Both states' laws must be satisfied.
HandgunNo — we transfer it to a dealer in your home state.
Suppressor / NFANo — Form 3 to an SOT dealer near you, who files your Form 4.
SBR / SBSNo — plus a separate federal barrier under § 922(b)(4).
Snowbird actually living hereYes — treated as a Florida resident, handguns and NFA included, with proof.
Active duty stationed in FloridaYes — a Florida resident by federal statute.

Long guns: yes, in person

18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(3) generally bars a dealer from selling to someone who lives in another state, then carves out an exception for "the sale or delivery of any rifle or shotgun to a resident of a State other than a State in which the licensee's place of business is located if the transferee meets in person with the transferor to accomplish the transfer, and the sale, delivery, and receipt fully comply with the legal conditions of sale in both such States." The implementing regulation is 27 CFR § 478.99.

Four conditions, all of which must hold: long gun only; you are here in person; the sale complies with the law of both states; and — this part matters to us more than to you — the dealer "shall be presumed … to have had actual knowledge of the State laws and published ordinances of both States."

That presumption is why we will ask about your home state's rules before we quote, and why we will decline a sale we cannot confirm is lawful on your end. Several states restrict what their residents may acquire elsewhere, and several restrict specific rifles regardless of where they were bought. We would rather lose the sale than put either of us in front of ATF.

Florida's own rules still apply to you: the three-day wait under § 790.0655, the background check under § 790.065, and the age-21 minimum under § 790.065(13) — which for long guns is stricter than the federal minimum of 18.

Handguns: no, but we can still sell you one

The § 922(b)(3) exception says "rifle or shotgun." A handgun is neither, so the general prohibition stands and we cannot hand one to a non-resident.

What we can do is sell it to you and ship it to a licensed dealer in your home state, who runs your Form 4473 and NICS check and hands it over there under their own state's law. Dealer-to-dealer transfers are outside the prohibition entirely. So the answer is not "no" — it is "not over this counter."

Suppressors and NFA items: no, and the 2026 ruling did not change that

A silencer is a "firearm" under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3)(C) and is not a rifle or shotgun, so the face-to-face exception does not reach it. ATF states the position directly in Chapter 9 of the National Firearms Act Handbook: ATF will not approve the transfer of an NFA firearm to a non-licensee residing in a state other than the transferor's.

The path is the same as for a handgun, one step longer: we transfer the item on a Form 3 to an SOT dealer in your state, and that dealer files your Form 4. You pick it up there when it clears.

About the August 2026 NFA ruling. A federal court in Texas held NFA registration unconstitutional as applied to suppressors, SBRs and SBSs. That case challenged the National Firearms Act. It did not challenge the Gun Control Act, and § 922(b)(3) — the residency rule — was never at issue and is untouched.

So no: you cannot drive to Florida and walk out with a suppressor because "the Form 4 got struck down." The residency bar is a different statute and it is still standing. NSSF's guidance flags the same point, and notes it remains unclear whether ATF will treat interstate transport of an unregistered suppressor as unlawful even for someone covered by the injunction. We are following the law as written and enforced until ATF says otherwise in writing.

Snowbirds: you may be a Florida resident already

This is the most useful thing on this page for a lot of our customers, and almost nobody knows it.

Federal law does not define residence by your driver's licence. 27 CFR § 478.11 says you reside in a state "if he or she is present in a State with the intention of making a home in that State," and gives this example directly:

"A maintains a home in State X and a home in State Y. A resides in State X except for weekends or the summer months of the year and in State Y for the weekends or the summer months of the year. During the time that A actually resides in State X, A is a resident of State X, and during the time that A actually resides in State Y, A is a resident of State Y."

So if you winter here, then while you are living in your Florida home you are a Florida resident for this purpose — and you can buy a handgun, or start a Form 4, exactly like any other Floridian.

Two conditions. First, ATF is explicit that merely owning property in a state does not qualify you to buy there — you must actually be residing in it. Second, you need to document the Florida address on the Form 4473. If your photo ID shows your northern address, ATF permits supplemental government-issued documentation:

18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(1)(C); 27 CFR §§ 478.102(a)(3), 478.124(c)(3)(i)

Bring one of the three in the first list. It is the difference between going home with it and going home without it.

Active duty stationed in Florida

Cleanest rule in the whole area. 18 U.S.C. § 921(b): "a member of the Armed Forces on active duty is a resident of the State in which his permanent duty station is located." If you are stationed here, you are a Florida resident for firearm purchases, whatever your home of record says.

Bring your PCS orders and your military photo ID. If you live off base in a different state from your duty station, ATF requires you to list both addresses in item 10 of the 4473 — and you have residency in both, so you may buy in either.

Common questions

I have a Utah non-resident permit. Am I good in Florida?

No. § 790.015(1)(b) recognises a licence "issued to the nonresident in his or her state of residence." A Utah permit held by someone who does not live in Utah does not qualify. The good news is you probably don't need it — if you are 21 or over and otherwise eligible, § 790.015(1)(a) lets you carry here with no permit at all.

I'm 19 and I can now carry in Florida. Can I buy a rifle from you?

No. Eubanks struck the age requirement for carrying. It did not touch § 790.065(13), which still says a person under 21 may not purchase a firearm and makes it a third-degree felony for a dealer to facilitate one. Carry rights and purchase rights are different things, and we cannot sell to you until 21. We expect to have this conversation a lot.

Can a business still tell me to leave because I'm carrying?

Yes — any establishment can, and you must comply. No sign, policy or explanation is required of them. McDaniels legalised open carry; it did not touch anyone's property rights. If you stay after being asked to go, you can be cited or arrested for trespass, and under § 810.09(2)(c) doing it while armed makes it a third-degree felony. Leave, then decide whether they deserve your money.

Does a "no firearms" sign carry the force of law in Florida?

The sign itself is not a criminal statute here. But it tells you plainly what the owner wants, and once staff notice and ask you to leave, you are obliged to go — see the answer above. We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice; our practical position is simply that no purchase is worth a felony charge.

Does my carry licence get me out of the background check?

Not at the federal level, and that is the level that governs our counter. A Florida licence exempts you from the state check under § 790.065(1)(b) and from the three-day wait under § 790.0655, but ATF does not recognise it as a NICS alternative. You will still be checked.

Is the three-day wait only for handguns?

No — a common and consequential mistake. § 790.0655 says "a firearm," and it means every firearm, rifles and shotguns included. It also runs three days or until your background check completes, "whichever occurs later," so a delayed check extends it. Our own house policy is five business days for customers without a Florida licence, which is longer than the law requires and deliberately so.

I have a carry permit from my home state. Do I still have to wait three days?

Yes. The exemption in § 790.0655 is written for a holder of a licence "issued under s. 790.06" — that is the Florida licensing statute. A permit from another state is not a Florida licence, so it does not shorten your wait here, no matter how good it is back home. This surprises a lot of visitors, so plan your trip accordingly: buy early in your stay, not the day before you drive home.

If you spend real time in Florida every year, this is the argument for getting a Florida licence of your own. Florida issues to non-residents, and it is the licence that exempts you.

Can I open carry a rifle into a courthouse or a bar?

Do not. See the unsettled-law note above — the statutory language does not cleanly address open long-gun carry in prohibited places, and the bill filed to fix that died. Being the person who tests it is not a good plan.

Legal notice — please read

Not legal advice. Burnt Offerings Defense is a federally licensed firearms dealer and manufacturer. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal services. Nothing on this page is legal advice, a legal opinion, or a substitute for either. Reading this page, or contacting us about it, creates no attorney-client relationship and no advisory relationship of any kind.

Accurate as of a date, not forever. This page reflects our understanding of publicly available Florida and federal law as of 8 September 2026. We publish what is known on that date and nothing more. Firearm law in Florida is moving quickly and much of what is described here rests on recent appellate decisions and prosecutorial guidance rather than settled statute — meaning it can change again with no notice, including between the day we wrote this and the day you read it. We make no representation that this page is current, complete, or correct at the time you read it.

Get your own legal representation. If you need to know how any of this applies to your circumstances, retain a Florida attorney who practises firearms law. Do not rely on this page, on our staff, or on anything you read on the internet in place of a lawyer. Every statute, regulation and court decision referenced here is linked to its official source so that you or your counsel can read the text directly and reach your own conclusions.

General information only. This page is written for a general audience and does not account for your history, your home state's law, local ordinances, federal disabilities, or facts specific to you — any of which can change the answer entirely. You are responsible for your own compliance with all applicable federal, state and local law. If you are unsure whether something is lawful, do not do it until you know.

We will correct this page when the law moves, and the review date above will change when we do.

Last reviewed: 8 September 2026 · Burnt Offerings Defense · Palm City, Florida · Licensed 07 FFL / Class 2 SOT

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Florida carry law changed twice in the last year, both times through the courts and with no warning. We update this page when it moves and we date every revision. Leave an email and we will tell you when we do.

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