Can an 18-Year-Old Carry a Firearm in Florida?

An 18-year-old can carry a firearm in Florida only in narrow situations: at home or a business they own, inside a private vehicle if the handgun is securely encased, and during hunting, fishing, camping, or target shooting (including direct travel to and from those activities). Concealed carry in public is off limits until 21, open carry is almost always illegal, and buying from a licensed dealer is not allowed under 21. Crossing those lines is usually a felony.

At Home or Your Own Business

Once you turn 18, Florida’s minor-possession restrictions no longer apply, and you can own and keep handguns, rifles, and shotguns at your residence or place of business without a license or permit. Loaded or unloaded, stored however you choose, the home is treated as a space where age-based carry rules do not reach. The same goes for a business you own or operate. Step outside those walls and the rules change quickly.

In a Private Vehicle

This is the rule most 18-year-olds need to understand clearly. Anyone 18 or older who lawfully possesses a firearm can keep it inside a private vehicle, as long as the firearm is “securely encased” or otherwise not readily accessible for immediate use.¹ You cannot carry it on your body in the vehicle, because that would require meeting the concealed carry age of 21.

“Securely encased” is defined by statute. It covers a firearm in a glove compartment (locked or unlocked), snapped into a holster, inside a gun case (locked or unlocked), in a zippered gun case, or in any closed box or container that requires lifting a lid or cover to reach the gun.² A handgun loose on the passenger seat does not qualify. A handgun snapped into a holster sitting on the center console does.

Long guns have more flexibility. Rifles and shotguns can be carried anywhere inside a private vehicle for any lawful use, without the securely-encased requirement.¹ A visible rifle in the back seat on a city street will still attract police attention, so practical judgment matters even where the law technically permits it.

Hunting, Fishing, Camping, and Target Shooting

Florida law carves out specific activities during which an 18-year-old can carry a firearm. If you are actively engaged in fishing, camping, lawful hunting, or target shooting, carry is allowed. The same exception covers direct travel to and from those activities, and it extends to members of shooting clubs traveling to and from ranges, gun shows, or competitions.³

This exception overrides both the concealed carry age restriction and the open carry ban. On a hunting trip you can wear a holstered sidearm or carry a slung rifle. The key word is “during.” Stopping at a restaurant on the way home from fishing and walking in with a pistol on your hip pushes you out of the exemption. Courts look at whether you were genuinely engaged in or directly traveling to or from a covered activity. Calling a stroll through your neighborhood a “camping trip” will not pass that test.

Concealed Carry Requires Being 21

Florida’s permitless carry law, signed in 2023, lets eligible residents carry a concealed firearm in public without a government-issued permit.⁴ Eligibility, however, tracks the same criteria as the concealed weapon license, and one of those criteria is being at least 21.⁵ Permitless carry did not lower the age; it removed the paperwork for people who already qualified.

The concealed carry statute spells this out. You can carry concealed if you either hold a license under 790.06 or meet all the eligibility criteria for one. Since 790.06 requires you to be 21, an 18-year-old satisfies neither path.⁶ No provision in current law lets anyone aged 18 to 20 carry a concealed handgun in public. It does not matter how the firearm was acquired, whether by purchase, gift, or inheritance.

The penalty is a third-degree felony.⁶⁷⁸ A felony conviction at 18 follows you for decades, affecting employment, housing, voting rights, and future firearm ownership.

Open Carry Is Almost Always Illegal

Florida is not an open carry state. Openly carrying a firearm or electric weapon on your body in public is a second-degree misdemeanor, and this applies to everyone, not just 18-year-olds.⁹ The only exceptions are the activity-based ones already described (hunting, fishing, camping, target shooting) and certain self-defense sprays or nonlethal stun devices.

Buying a Firearm Under 21

Florida law bars anyone under 21 from purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer. The ban covers handguns, rifles, and shotguns, and a dealer who sells to someone under 21 faces a third-degree felony charge.¹⁰ The purchase age was raised from 18 to 21 by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act in 2018.

One narrow exception: active-duty law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and military servicemembers can still buy rifles and shotguns from licensed dealers before 21.¹⁰ That exception does not extend to handguns for any buyer under 21.

Gifts and Inheritance

The dealer ban does not close every door. An 18-year-old can legally receive a firearm as a genuine gift from a family member or through inheritance. These private transfers are the main way young adults in Florida come into lawful possession. A firearm received this way is subject to the same carry and possession rules as any other: keep it at home, store it securely encased in your vehicle, bring it hunting. You still cannot carry it concealed in public.

Straw Purchases

Having someone else buy a firearm from a dealer on your behalf because you cannot legally purchase it yourself is a federal crime known as a straw purchase. It involves lying on the federal transfer form about who the actual buyer is. A conviction carries up to 10 years in federal prison, and both the buyer and the recipient can face charges.¹¹ A genuine, no-strings-attached gift is legal. A transaction where you supply the money and someone else fills out the paperwork is not.

Places Where Firearms Are Off Limits Regardless of Age

Even for someone legally carrying under one of the exceptions above, Florida bans firearms in a long list of locations. These apply equally when you’re transporting a firearm in your vehicle or carrying during a covered activity:

Public or private preschools, elementary, middle, and secondary schools, including school buses and bus stops. Possession on school property is a third-degree felony. A narrow exception allows a firearm securely encased in a vehicle on school grounds, though school districts can eliminate that exception through written policy.¹²
Courthouses and courtrooms.
Police stations, jails, and prisons.
Polling places.
Meetings of county commissions, school boards, city councils, and the state legislature.
Any portion of an establishment primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-premises consumption.
College and university facilities, with a limited exception for students or employees carrying nonlethal stun devices.
Airport terminals past the security checkpoint. A properly cased firearm can be brought into the terminal for checking as luggage.
Any location where federal law prohibits firearms.⁵

For an 18-year-old still in high school or visiting a school campus, the school prohibition matters most. A firearm in your backpack, or in your car on a campus where the district has opted out of the vehicle exception, is a felony.

Federal Rules That Also Apply

Florida’s state laws are only half the picture. A few federal restrictions reach 18-year-olds directly.

Ammunition

Licensed dealers cannot sell handgun ammunition to anyone under 21. Rifle and shotgun ammunition can be sold to anyone 18 or older.¹³ If you lawfully possess a handgun at home through a private transfer, buying ammunition for it at a retail store can still be difficult. Rounds like 9mm or .45 ACP are often classified as handgun ammunition by retailers even when they can be used in certain long guns. Expect inconsistent enforcement at the counter.

Enhanced Background Checks

Under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, anyone under 21 who undergoes a federal background check faces an enhanced review. Standard checks run up to three business days; for buyers under 21, the FBI contacts state juvenile justice agencies, mental health repositories, and local law enforcement to search for disqualifying records that might not appear in the normal databases. The expanded check can take up to 10 business days if investigators find reason to dig deeper.¹⁴ In Florida, where licensed dealers cannot sell to buyers under 21 anyway, this process mainly comes into play if the law changes or if you travel to a state with a lower purchase age.

The Short Version

You can keep a gun at home. You can transport a handgun in your vehicle if it is securely encased. You can carry while hunting, fishing, camping, or target shooting, including direct travel to and from those activities. You cannot carry concealed in public, you cannot buy from a dealer, and you cannot open carry outside the activity exceptions. The gap between what feels like an adult right and what the law actually permits is where felony charges live, and prosecutors do not treat these cases lightly.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.001 – Definitions
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
4
Executive Office of the Governor. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs HB 543 – Constitutional Carry
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties and Sentencing
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.065 – Sale and Delivery of Firearms
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 924 – Penalties
12
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.115 – Possessing or Discharging Weapons or Firearms at a School-Sponsored Event or on School Property
13
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Minimum Age for Gun Sales and Transfers
14
Federal Bureau of Investigation. NICS Enhanced Background Checks for Under-21 Gun Buyers Showing Results