Florida Open Carry Statute: Exceptions, Vehicles, and Penalties

Florida open carry law prohibits carrying a firearm openly in public, and that prohibition applies even if you hold a Florida concealed weapon license or qualify to carry under the state’s permitless carry law. The offense is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.¹ A short list of activity-based exceptions exists, mostly for hunting, fishing, camping, target shooting, and gun shows, along with narrow protections for brief accidental exposure and for firearms stored properly in a vehicle.

The General Rule

Florida Statute 790.053 makes it unlawful for anyone to openly carry a firearm or electric weapon on or about their person.¹ The ban covers every type of firearm, handguns, rifles, and shotguns alike. If a passerby or officer can see the weapon on you, you are openly carrying.

The statute does allow open carry of self-defense chemical sprays and nonlethal stun guns or dart-firing stun guns designed solely for defensive use.¹ Firearms do not qualify under that carve-out.

Permitless Carry Didn’t Change This

Since July 1, 2023, adults who meet Florida’s concealed carry eligibility requirements can carry a concealed firearm without first obtaining a license.² This is often called constitutional carry or permitless carry. It did not change the open carry ban.

To carry concealed without a license, you must be at least 21, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, have no disqualifying felony convictions or domestic violence injunctions, and not be otherwise prohibited under state or federal law.² The authorization is for concealed carry only. If the firearm becomes visible, you have moved from legal concealed carry into illegal open carry, and the permitless carry statute will not protect you.

You can also still apply for a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License (CWFL) through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The license is no longer required but offers reciprocity with other states and additional documentation if you are stopped. Applicants must be at least 21, complete a firearms training course, and pass a fingerprint-based background check.³

When Open Carry Is Legal

Florida Statute 790.25 overrides the general ban for specific activities, and the firearm has to be genuinely connected to what you are doing at the time.⁴ Open carry is lawful while:

Hunting, fishing, or camping, including travel to and from the site.
Target shooting at a lawful range or other safe location not prohibited by law, and for members of organized shooting clubs while at or traveling to and from practice.
Lawfully possessing or displaying firearms at a gun show.

The “going to or returning from” language matters. Driving home from a hunting trip with a rifle visible in your vehicle falls inside the exception. Stopping at a shopping center on the way with the firearm openly displayed on your person does not. Officers and courts look at whether the activity is a real connection, not one assembled after the fact.

Accidental Exposure While Carrying Concealed

Florida includes a safe harbor for people lawfully carrying concealed. If the firearm is briefly exposed, that is not an open carry violation, so long as the display was not angry or threatening.¹ A shirt riding up, a gust of wind lifting a jacket, or bending to pick something up and briefly showing a holstered firearm are the kinds of scenarios the provision covers.

The protection applies to anyone authorized under Section 790.01(1), which covers both licensed concealed carriers and those carrying under the permitless carry law.² It disappears the moment the display turns intentional and aggressive. Flashing a firearm during a road-rage incident, for instance, would not qualify and could trigger a separate charge for improper exhibition.

Firearms in a Vehicle

Florida treats the inside of a private vehicle differently from open public spaces. A person 18 or older who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm may keep a handgun inside a private vehicle if it is securely encased or otherwise not readily accessible for immediate use.⁵ Carrying it on your person inside the vehicle requires qualifying for concealed carry.

“Securely encased” has a specific statutory meaning: stored in a glove compartment (locked or unlocked), snapped into a holster, or placed in a gun case or zippered gun case (locked or unlocked).⁶ A firearm sitting loose on a passenger seat or tucked under a floor mat does not meet the standard.

Long guns are treated more loosely. A legal rifle or shotgun may be carried anywhere in a private vehicle when possessed for a lawful purpose, with no securely encased requirement.⁵

Florida also bars employers from prohibiting employees, customers, or invitees from keeping a lawfully possessed firearm locked inside a private vehicle in a parking lot, as long as the weapon stays out of sight.⁷

Where You Still Can’t Carry at All

Whether you hold a CWFL, carry under permitless carry, or fit one of the open carry exceptions, Florida law places certain locations off-limits to firearms entirely.³ Those include:

Courthouses, polling places, government meetings, and legislative sessions.
Police stations, sheriff’s offices, jails, and prisons.
Any preschool, elementary, middle, high school, career center, or postsecondary school, public or private, and school-sponsored events. The vehicle transport rules above still allow a firearm inside a car on school property, though a school district may further restrict student parking.⁸
Bars and the bar portions of restaurants.
Professional and college athletic events.
Hospitals and mental health facilities.
Airport terminals past the security checkpoint. Unloaded firearms may travel in checked luggage under TSA rules.⁹
Any location where federal law prohibits firearms, such as federal courthouses and military installations.

Private Property and “No Weapons” Signs

A “No Weapons” sign on a Florida business is not itself a criminal firearm restriction. Walking past one with a concealed firearm is not a gun offense on its own. The owner or manager can ask you to leave, though, and if you refuse, you are trespassing. Trespass in a structure is normally a second-degree misdemeanor, but trespassing while armed with a firearm is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.¹⁰ Ignoring a property owner’s request is a bad gamble.

Penalties

Open Carry Violation

Carrying a firearm openly in public without falling within a recognized exception is a second-degree misdemeanor, up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.¹¹¹ Probation of up to six months is also possible. Even at this level, the conviction creates a permanent record that follows you through background checks.

Improper Exhibition of a Weapon

Displaying a firearm in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner around other people, outside of necessary self-defense, is a separate offense under Section 790.10.¹² It commonly gets added to an open carry charge when the conduct went beyond simply having the firearm visible.

Carrying Concealed While Ineligible

Someone who carries a concealed firearm without meeting the eligibility requirements for permitless carry or a license faces a third-degree felony, carrying up to five years in prison.²¹⁰ A concealed weapon other than a firearm is a first-degree misdemeanor.

Effect on Your License

A firearm-related arrest can trigger a temporary suspension of your CWFL while the case is pending, and a conviction for a disqualifying offense means the license is revoked, along with the reciprocity it carries in other states.³

Local Rules Don’t Override State Law

Florida preempts the field of firearms regulation. Cities and counties cannot pass gun ordinances that go beyond state law, and courts must strike any that try. Individual local officials who knowingly enact or enforce such ordinances face personal civil fines up to $5,000 and possible removal from office by the Governor, and public funds cannot be used to defend them.¹³ If you see a local sign or rule claiming to restrict firearms in a public park or similar area beyond what state law allows, it is almost certainly unenforceable. Challenging it through a formal legal complaint is far safer than testing it in the moment.

If you carry concealed under the permitless carry law, keep a valid government-issued ID on you at all times. Officers are required to be shown it on request, and without a license to run, your ID is how your eligibility gets confirmed.²

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms
3
Justia Law. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.001 – Definitions
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.251 – Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.115 – Possessing or Discharging Weapons or Firearms at a School-Sponsored Event or on School Property
9
Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition
10
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.082 – Penalties, Applicability of Sentencing Structures, Notification Requirements
11
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.083 – Fines
12
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.10 – Improper Exhibition of Dangerous Weapons or Firearms
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.33 – Field of Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition Preempted