Do You Have to Be a Resident to Buy a Gun in Florida?

A non-resident buying a gun in Florida can walk out of a licensed dealer with a rifle or shotgun, but not a handgun. Federal law bars any licensed dealer from selling a handgun to someone who lives in a different state, with no exceptions. Long guns are different: a Florida dealer can sell you a rifle or shotgun as long as you appear in person and the sale complies with both Florida law and the law of your home state.¹ That home-state piece matters. If your state bans a particular rifle configuration or requires a purchase permit, the Florida dealer has to honor that too.

Buying a Rifle or Shotgun in Florida

The whole transaction happens at the dealer’s premises. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID from your home state showing your name, date of birth, and address. You’ll complete ATF Form 4473, which asks about criminal history, drug use, mental health adjudications, and immigration status.

The dealer then contacts the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to run the background check. Florida is a point-of-contact state, so FDLE handles the check and searches both federal and state records rather than routing it straight through the FBI system.² The processing fee the dealer collects is capped by statute at $8.³

The Three-Day Waiting Period

Even when the background check comes back clean, you can’t take the firearm home right away. Florida requires a wait of three business days or until the check is approved, whichever is longer. Weekends and legal holidays don’t count toward the three days.⁴ This applies to residents and non-residents, handguns and long guns alike. A dealer who releases a firearm early commits a third-degree felony, so plan a return trip or build the delay into your visit.

Two things can erase the wait:

A valid Florida-issued concealed weapon or firearm license. Florida does issue these to non-residents through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which can make the exemption worth pursuing if you buy in the state often. A concealed carry permit from another state does not qualify; the statute requires a Florida license.⁴
A hunter safety certification card from a course of at least 16 hours, or a Florida hunting license held by someone exempt from the course requirement. This exemption covers rifle and shotgun purchases.

You Must Be 21

Florida set the minimum purchase age at 21 for all firearms in 2018, and that applies to non-residents too. It’s stricter than the federal floor of 18 for long guns from a dealer. The only exception lets law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and active service members buy a rifle or shotgun at 18. Handguns stay off-limits under 21 even for those groups.²

How to Get a Handgun You Found in Florida

The Florida dealer can’t sell a handgun to a non-resident, but the dealer can ship it to a federally licensed dealer in your home state. You then complete the purchase there, with your home state’s background check and rules governing the final transfer. This is the only legal path for a non-resident to buy a handgun that’s physically sitting in a Florida shop.

The receiving dealer in your home state will charge a transfer fee. Fees are set shop by shop rather than by law, so call ahead. Budget for the transfer fee, shipping, and whatever background check fee your home state tacks on.

If You Spend Part of the Year in Florida

Seasonal residents don’t necessarily have to use the out-of-state shipping route. Federal regulations treat your “state of residence” as the state where you’re currently living with the intent of making a home there, and the ATF has said directly that a person with homes in two states is a resident of whichever one they’re actually living in at the time of purchase.⁵

Intent is doing real work in that definition. A vacation home you drop into for two weeks a year won’t cut it. Winters spent genuinely living in a Florida home will.⁵

You have to prove it to the dealer. A Florida driver’s license or state ID with your current Florida address is the cleanest option. If your main ID is from another state, pair it with a supporting document showing your Florida address, such as a vehicle registration, voter registration card, or property tax bill. Active-duty military stationed in Florida can show a military ID along with permanent change of station orders.²

Private Sales Are Not an Option

Buying from a private individual isn’t a shortcut around the dealer process. Federal law prohibits any private seller from transferring a firearm to a resident of a different state, and the ban covers sales, gifts, trades, and loans of handguns, rifles, and shotguns alike. The only legal route is to ship the firearm to a licensed dealer in the buyer’s home state and complete the transfer there with a background check.⁶ A private seller at a Florida gun show who hands a rifle to a buyer from Alabama has committed a federal crime, even though a licensed dealer at the next table could legally make that sale.

Who’s Disqualified No Matter Where You Live

Residency is beside the point if you fall into one of the categories of people whom 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) bars from possessing firearms. The list covers felony convictions, fugitive status, unlawful drug use, involuntary mental health commitments, certain immigration statuses, dishonorable discharge, qualifying domestic violence orders or misdemeanor convictions, and renounced citizenship.¹ Form 4473 asks about each one, and lying on it is a separate federal offense.

Two situations catch non-residents off guard often enough to flag.

Marijuana is the first. It remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, and the ATF treats any marijuana user as an “unlawful user of a controlled substance” who cannot buy or possess firearms, regardless of state medical or recreational legalization. A dealer who knows a buyer holds a state medical marijuana card has “reasonable cause to believe” the buyer is prohibited and must refuse the sale.⁷ As of early 2026, rescheduling discussions have been directed by federal executive order, but the prohibition has not changed.

Straw purchases are the second. Asking an eligible Florida friend to buy a handgun on your behalf, to skip the interstate transfer, is a textbook straw purchase. It’s a federal felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, rising to 25 years if the firearm is later used in a felony, drug trafficking, or an act of terrorism.⁸

Getting the Firearm Home

Federal law gives you safe passage for interstate transport, meaning you can carry a firearm through any state as long as you could legally possess it at both ends of the trip. During transport, the firearm must be unloaded, and neither the gun nor the ammunition can be accessible from the passenger compartment. In a vehicle without a separate trunk, the firearm has to be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or center console.⁹

Flying is a stricter process. TSA requires firearms to be unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container, packed in checked baggage only, and declared at the airline ticket counter during check-in. Ammunition can go in the same locked case as the firearm, but loaded magazines must be secured in a box or the hard case. Firearms and ammunition are never allowed in carry-on bags.¹⁰

If Your Background Check Is Denied

A denial isn’t necessarily the end of the matter. FDLE runs a formal appeal process and handles between 3,000 and 4,000 appeals a year.¹¹

You have 60 days from the non-approval date to file, and the deadline is strict. Appeal forms are available from the dealer at the time of the denial or from FDLE’s website. The submission must include fingerprints obtained from a law enforcement agency, along with supporting documentation. Prints from private services are rejected.¹¹

A successful appeal produces an approval letter valid for 30 days and good for a one-time purchase at the same dealer where you were originally denied. If the appeal fails and the disqualifying record came from another state, you’ll need to work with that state’s agency to correct the record at the source. FDLE accepts re-appeals for up to two years after the initial check, but only once the underlying record has actually changed.¹¹

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
2
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Requirements to Purchase a Firearm
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.065 – Sale and Delivery of Firearms
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code Title XLVI Chapter 790 Section 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms; Mandatory Waiting Period; Exceptions; Penalties
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Guidance on State of Residence Definition for Firearm Purchases
6
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Best Practices: Transfers of Firearms by Private Sellers
7
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Open Letter to All Federal Firearms Licensees Regarding Use of Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes
8
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Don’t Lie for the Other Guy
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
10
Transportation Security Administration. Firearms and Ammunition
11
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Firearms Purchase Program – Appeal Process