Can You Conceal Carry in Florida Without a Permit?

Yes. Since July 1, 2023, you can conceal carry in Florida without a permit, as long as you meet every eligibility requirement that applies to a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License (CWFL). The law amended Section 790.01 of the Florida Statutes and waived two things only: the training course and the application fee.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms2Florida Senate. House of Representatives Staff Analysis – CS/HB 543 Every other qualification still applies, open carry is still illegal, and the list of off-limits locations is long. You also have to carry a government-issued photo ID whenever you are armed.3Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Permitless Carry in Florida

The law treats Florida residents and visitors from other states the same way. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you are covered whether you live here or you are passing through.

Who Qualifies

Permitless carry borrows its eligibility list from Section 790.06, the licensing statute. All of the following must be true:

  • You are a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident alien.
  • You are at least 21. Active-duty service members and honorably discharged veterans can carry at 18.4Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Eligibility Requirements for a Florida Concealed Weapon License
  • You have no felony conviction that bars firearm possession.
  • You have no controlled-substance conviction within the past three years.
  • You have no physical condition that prevents safe handling of a firearm.
  • You have not been adjudicated incapacitated, unless a court restored your capacity at least five years ago.
  • You have not been committed to a mental institution, unless a licensed psychiatrist certifies you have been free of disability for at least five years.
  • You are not subject to a domestic violence or repeat violence injunction.
  • No other state or federal law bars you from possessing a firearm.5Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm

Miss any one of these and the permitless carry law does not cover you. Carrying anyway can mean a felony charge.

What “Concealed” Means

Concealed means hidden from the ordinary sight of another person. A firearm under a shirt or inside a bag qualifies. A firearm visible in a hip holster does not. Open carry in public remains a second-degree misdemeanor in Florida, with narrow exceptions for activities like hunting, fishing, and camping.6Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons

Florida also draws a legal line between a concealed weapon and a concealed firearm, and the line matters because the penalty on the wrong side of it jumps from misdemeanor to felony. A concealed firearm is any firearm hidden from ordinary sight. A concealed weapon is a separate list: dirks, metallic knuckles, billies, tear gas guns, chemical weapons or devices, and other deadly weapons carried out of sight.7Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.001 – Definitions

Where You Still Cannot Carry

Even with full eligibility, Section 790.06(12) bans concealed carry in a long list of places:

  • Any elementary school, secondary school, career center, or college or university facility. A narrow exception lets registered students, employees, and faculty at a college or university carry a nonlethal stun gun designed for defensive purposes.
  • Any courthouse, police station, sheriff’s office, highway patrol station, jail or detention facility, and polling place.
  • Any meeting of a county governing body, school board, city commission, special district, or the Florida Legislature.
  • Any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms.
  • Any portion of an establishment primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-site consumption. A restaurant with a bar area means the bar is off-limits; the dining room may not be.
  • The inside of any airport passenger terminal and sterile area. A properly encased firearm checked as baggage is still allowed.5Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm

Carrying in any of these places is a second-degree misdemeanor regardless of whether you otherwise qualify.

Private Property and “No Firearms” Signs

A posted sign at a private business does not, by itself, create a criminal offense if you walk past it while carrying concealed. What matters is what the owner or manager does next. If staff ask you to leave and you refuse while armed with a firearm, you face a charge of armed trespass in a structure, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.8Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 810.08 – Trespass in Structure or Conveyance If you are asked to leave, leave.

Carrying in Your Vehicle

If you meet the eligibility criteria, you can carry a concealed firearm on your person inside your vehicle without a license. The firearm has to stay concealed. A handgun placed on the dashboard in plain view while driving would violate the open-carry prohibition.

Separately, Florida has long allowed a lawfully owned firearm to be kept inside a private vehicle, and the Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act prohibits employers from banning employees, customers, or invitees from keeping a legal firearm locked inside or locked to a private vehicle in a parking lot.9Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.251 – Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles That protection predates permitless carry and still applies.

Traffic Stops and Talking to Police

Florida does not impose a duty to inform. You are not legally required to volunteer that you are carrying during a traffic stop or any other police encounter. You do have to produce a government-issued photo ID if an officer asks.3Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Permitless Carry in Florida

If you hold a CWFL and choose to disclose that you are armed, Florida law requires you to show both your ID and your license when the officer asks. Even without a legal obligation, calmly telling an officer where the firearm is and letting them direct what happens next is the approach most agencies recommend.

Why You Might Still Want the License

Permitless carry did not make the CWFL pointless. Two reasons to apply anyway:

Reciprocity. Florida has mutual recognition agreements with many other states, so a valid Florida CWFL lets you carry concealed in those states too.10Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity Without the license, you are only covered in states that independently allow permitless carry. Crossing into a state that requires a permit while carrying can mean criminal charges, even if you were perfectly legal a few miles earlier.

Firearm purchase waiting period. Florida imposes a mandatory three-day waiting period (excluding weekends and holidays) between buying and receiving a firearm. A valid CWFL exempts you from that wait.11Florida House of Representatives. Florida Statutes 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms; Mandatory Waiting Period; Exceptions; Penalties Simply qualifying for permitless carry does not trigger the exemption. You need the physical license.

Total cost for a new Florida CWFL, including fingerprinting and processing, runs around $119 for both residents and out-of-state applicants. The CWFL application still requires a firearms competency course, even though permitless carry waives one for everyday carrying.

Penalties If You Get It Wrong

What you face depends on what you were carrying and where.

The jump from the weapon charge to the firearm charge is the one that catches people. A concealed knife carried by someone who does not qualify is a misdemeanor. A concealed handgun under the same facts is a felony, with the lasting consequences a felony conviction brings: loss of voting rights, loss of firearm rights, and a record that follows you through every job application.

If you are already prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a prior felony, a domestic violence injunction, or a mental health commitment, concealed carry stacks the unlawful-carry charge on top of a possession charge. Prosecutors rarely treat that combination lightly.