Florida Prohibited Locations for Weapons and Firearms

Florida’s prohibited locations for firearms are set out mainly in Section 790.06(12)(a) of the Florida Statutes, which bans concealed carry from fifteen categories of places, with additional restrictions layered on by other state statutes and by federal law.¹ These rules apply whether you carry under the 2023 permitless carry law or with a concealed weapon license.² Penalties run from a second-degree misdemeanor for most locations up to a second-degree felony for correctional facilities, and the list below covers each place, what triggers a violation, and what you face if caught.

Schools, Campuses, and the Federal School Zone

Florida bans firearms at any elementary or secondary school facility or administration building and at any career center under subsections 10 and 11 of Section 790.06(12)(a).¹ A separate statute, Section 790.115, sets the actual penalty. Someone not otherwise authorized to carry who willfully brings a firearm onto school grounds commits a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. If you are authorized to carry under Section 790.01(1), whether by license or permitless carry, the charge drops to a second-degree misdemeanor, up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.³ Either way, the firearm is seized and you are arrested.

College and university facilities fall under subsection 13. The only carve-out is for registered students, employees, and faculty carrying a stun gun or nonlethal defensive device that does not fire a projectile. Firearms are prohibited entirely. A violation is a second-degree misdemeanor.¹

Permitless carry creates a serious federal trap around schools. The Gun-Free School Zones Act makes it a federal crime to possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of any elementary or secondary school.⁴ Federal law exempts holders of state-issued licenses when the state verifies the applicant’s eligibility through law enforcement before issuing. Permitless carriers hold no license and therefore no exemption. Driving through a residential neighborhood within 1,000 feet of a school, perfectly legal under Florida law, can expose you to a federal charge. Florida’s concealed weapon license does satisfy the federal exemption, which is one of the strongest reasons to still carry one.

Government Buildings, Courthouses, and Polling Places

Section 790.06(12)(a) prohibits concealed weapons at a broad slate of government locations:

Police, sheriff, and highway patrol stations (subsection 2)
Courthouses (subsection 4)
Courtrooms (subsection 5), unless the judge authorizes a specific person to carry
Polling places (subsection 6)
Government body meetings, including county commissions, city councils, school boards, and special district meetings (subsection 7)
Any meeting of the Florida Legislature or its committees (subsection 8)

Each of these carries a second-degree misdemeanor penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.¹ Many of these buildings also run metal detectors at the entrance, so an accidental violation is almost certain to become an arrest.

Jails and Prisons

Correctional facilities appear in Section 790.06(12)(a)(3), but the real penalty comes from Section 944.47, which criminalizes bringing any firearm or weapon into a state correctional facility as a second-degree felony.⁵ That carries up to 15 years in prison under Florida’s sentencing framework.⁶ Whether you have a license or not is irrelevant. This is the harshest weapons-location penalty on the state books.

Bars and the Bar Areas of Restaurants

Subsection 12 of Section 790.06(12)(a) prohibits concealed weapons in any portion of an establishment primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-site consumption. Note the word “portion.” Florida does not ban firearms from every restaurant that pours beer. The rule targets the section of the establishment that functions as a bar, where drinking is the primary activity.

You can carry in the dining room of a restaurant with a bar. You cannot walk over and sit at the bar counter. The line between the two is not always marked, and law enforcement typically looks at whether the section has its own bar-top seating, emphasizes drink service, or lacks food menus. When in doubt, assume you are in the restricted portion. A violation is a second-degree misdemeanor with up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.⁷

Airports

Subsection 14 bans concealed weapons inside the passenger terminal and the sterile area of any airport. The sterile area is everything past the TSA checkpoint. Attempting to bring a firearm through a checkpoint leads to immediate detention and can produce state charges plus federal civil penalties.

You can bring a cased firearm into the terminal for the purpose of checking it as baggage. Federal rules require the firearm to be unloaded and packed in a locked, hard-sided container, and you must declare it to the airline at the ticket counter.⁸ Ammunition can travel in checked bags in its original packaging or a container designed for ammunition. Loaded magazines cannot be used to store loose rounds. Only you should hold the key or combination.

Sporting Events

Subsection 9 covers school, college, and professional athletic events under a single prohibition. Football, baseball, basketball, and hockey games are all off-limits, unless the event itself is firearm-related, like a shooting competition.¹ A violation is a second-degree misdemeanor, and major venues run their own screening at the gate. Getting caught almost always adds a permanent ban from the facility on top of the criminal charge.

Federal Property

Florida’s permitless carry law has no effect on federal property. Federal law independently prohibits firearms in federal buildings and on certain federal land, and Section 790.06(12)(a)(15) folds those federal bans back into the state list as well.¹

Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, knowingly possessing a firearm in a building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work is a federal offense, punishable by up to one year in prison, or up to five if the firearm is tied to another crime. Federal court facilities carry a separate ceiling of two years.⁹ Social Security offices, IRS field offices, and federal courthouses all qualify.

Post offices catch people off guard because they sit in ordinary commercial areas. Federal regulations ban all firearms on postal property, including the parking lot and sidewalks, not just the building.¹⁰ VA medical centers and other VA facilities have a similar blanket ban, with a $500 fine for possessing a firearm on VA property.¹¹

Federal law permits firearm possession in national parks and wildlife refuges if the carrier is legal under the applicable state law, so a Florida national park is open to you if you are otherwise legal in Florida. Firearms remain barred from federal buildings inside those parks, such as visitor centers, and those buildings are posted. Military installations set their own rules, and most require privately owned firearms to be unloaded, stored separately from ammunition, and taken directly to a base armory. Civilian concealed carry on a military base is effectively not permitted.

Private Property That Prohibits Firearms

Private property owners can ban firearms from their premises. That authority comes from ordinary property rights and is enforced through trespass law. A business can post signs, adopt a written policy, or ask you directly to leave. Once told, you comply or you go.

Refusing gets expensive fast. Under Section 810.08, entering or remaining in a structure without authorization is trespass. Doing so while armed with a firearm turns the charge into a third-degree felony, up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.¹² Ordinary trespass is a second-degree misdemeanor, so the firearm alone raises the stakes dramatically. Business owners have no obligation to store your firearm for you. You leave with it, or you face the felony.

Firearms Locked in Your Vehicle

Florida’s parking lot law gives you a real workaround for most of the prohibited locations. Under Section 790.251, no public or private employer can prohibit you from keeping a legally owned firearm locked inside your private vehicle in a parking lot.¹³ Even if the building bans firearms, a secured firearm in your car is protected.

That protection does not apply to:

School property regulated under Section 790.115
Correctional institutions regulated under Section 944.47
Nuclear power plants
National defense, aerospace, and homeland security facilities
Facilities that manufacture or store explosives
Any property where federal law prohibits firearm possession

At those locations, the ban reaches the parking lot too. Everywhere else on the prohibited list, you can drive to the courthouse, leave the firearm secured in the car, and walk in unarmed without breaking the law.¹³

Section 790.25(4) separately allows anyone 18 or older in lawful possession of a handgun to keep it inside a private vehicle if the handgun is securely encased or not readily accessible for immediate use.¹⁴ “Securely encased” generally means a glove compartment, closed container, or gun case. This right does not depend on concealed carry eligibility.

Why a Concealed Weapon License Still Helps

Permitless carry did not make Florida’s license pointless. Two advantages carry real weight.

Reciprocity is the first. Florida has concealed carry reciprocity with 37 other states, so a Florida license lets you carry legally in those states when you travel.¹⁵ Permitless carry only works inside Florida. Cross the state line without a license and you need to comply with the destination state’s own carry rules.

The Gun-Free School Zones Act exemption is the second. A Florida license satisfies the federal requirement of a state-issued, law-enforcement-verified license, which exempts you from the 1,000-foot school zone rule while carrying.⁴ Without a license, routine driving through a school zone while carrying concealed exposes you to federal liability. In any city or suburb, that risk is constant.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm
2
Florida Senate. Florida Senate Bill 543 (2023) – Public Safety
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.115 – Possessing or Discharging Weapons or Firearms at a School-Sponsored Event or on School Property
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 944.47 – Introduction, Removal, or Possession of Certain Articles Unlawful
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Notification Requirements
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
8
Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
10
eCFR. 39 CFR 232.1 – Conduct on Postal Property
11
eCFR. 38 CFR 1.218 – Security and Law Enforcement at VA Facilities
12
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 810.08 – Trespass in Structure or Conveyance
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.251 – Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008
14
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership; Possession and Use of Firearms
15
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity