Florida Statute Chapter 790 is the state’s firearms and weapons code, and since July 1, 2023, its headline rule is that any adult 21 or older who is not otherwise disqualified from possessing a firearm can carry a concealed handgun in Florida without a license. That change did not rewrite the rest of the chapter. Open carry is still illegal, certain places remain off-limits, the purchase age is 21, machine guns and bump stocks are banned, and using a firearm during a felony triggers some of the harshest mandatory minimums in the country.
Here is what Chapter 790 actually requires, permits, and punishes.
Who Can Carry Concealed Without a License
Section 790.01 authorizes concealed carry for anyone who either holds a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License (CWFL) or meets every eligibility criterion for one.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms In practice that means you must be at least 21, a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and free of any disqualifying criminal history or mental health adjudication.
If you are charged with unlawful concealed carry, the state must prove both that you lacked a license and that you were ineligible to receive one.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms That protection does not help if you actually are ineligible. A person with a disqualifying felony who carries concealed is committing a crime whether or not they ever applied for a license.
Nonresidents can carry in Florida if they are 21 or older and either meet Florida’s CWFL eligibility standards or hold a valid concealed carry license from their home state. Active-duty military and honorably discharged veterans can carry at 18.
Open Carry Is Still Prohibited
Permitless carry did not legalize open carry. Section 790.053 makes it unlawful to openly carry a firearm or electric weapon on your person.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons The narrow exceptions are self-defense chemical sprays and nonlethal stun guns.
If your concealed firearm briefly becomes visible while you are lawfully carrying, that alone is not a violation. What the statute forbids is intentionally displaying the firearm in an angry or threatening way. This distinction catches people from open-carry states off guard. In Florida, the handgun stays concealed. Accidental exposure is tolerated; deliberate display is not.
Where You Cannot Carry
Even with permitless carry authority or a CWFL, Section 790.06(12) bars concealed firearms and weapons from a defined list of locations:3Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Possession Restrictions
- Police stations, sheriff’s offices, highway patrol stations, detention facilities, prisons, and jails
- Courthouses and courtrooms, unless a judge authorizes a specific person
- Polling places
- Meetings of county or municipal governing bodies, school boards, and the Legislature and its committees
- Elementary schools, secondary schools, school administration buildings, and career centers
- Colleges and universities, with a narrow exception for students, employees, or faculty carrying nonlethal stun guns
- The portion of a bar or restaurant primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-site consumption
- Athletic events at schools, colleges, or professional venues that are not firearm-related
- Airport passenger terminals and sterile areas, though a properly encased firearm can pass through the terminal for checked baggage
- Any place where carrying is prohibited by federal law
The bar-and-restaurant rule is narrower than most people assume. It applies to the area primarily devoted to alcohol service, not the whole establishment. A restaurant with a separate bar section does not become off-limits in the dining area.
Buying a Firearm in Florida
Since 2018, the minimum purchase age for any firearm in Florida has been 21. Section 790.065(13) prohibits both the sale to and the purchase by anyone younger, and a violation on either side is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.4Florida Senate. House of Representatives Staff Analysis – Minimum Age for Firearm Purchase or Transfer The exceptions cover law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and active-duty military.
Handgun purchases carry a mandatory three-day waiting period between purchase and delivery, excluding weekends and legal holidays. CWFL holders are exempt, and so are handgun trade-ins.5Justia Law. Florida Statutes 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Handguns; Mandatory Waiting Period
Why a Concealed Weapon License Still Matters
Permitless carry made the CWFL optional inside Florida, but the license retains two practical uses. First, Florida has reciprocity agreements with roughly 37 states, so a Florida license lets you carry in those states without obtaining a separate permit.6Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity Without a license, your permitless carry authority ends at the state line. Second, a CWFL waives the three-day handgun waiting period on every purchase.
Florida operates a “shall-issue” system through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS). If you meet the criteria, the agency must issue the license, and it has 90 days from receiving a completed application to issue or deny it.7Justia Law. Florida Statutes 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm You must be at least 21, a citizen or permanent resident, and able to demonstrate firearms competence through a hunter education course, an NRA safety course, a certified firearms training course, or documented shooting competition or military experience.
Common disqualifiers include:
- A felony conviction, unless firearm rights have been restored
- A domestic violence misdemeanor conviction or withheld adjudication, which bars you until three years after completing probation and all court conditions, or until the record is expunged
- A controlled substance conviction within the past three years
- Two or more DUI convictions within three years, which creates a presumption of habitual substance abuse
- Being adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution
If you carry with a license, you must have the license and valid identification on you. Failing to display them to an officer on demand is a noncriminal violation with a $25 fine.
Safe Storage Around Minors
Section 790.174 governs storage when a child under 16 could reach a loaded firearm. You must keep the gun in a securely locked container, in a place a reasonable person would consider secure, or fitted with a trigger lock. The exception is when the firearm is on your body or close enough to use as quickly as if it were.8Justia Law. Florida Statutes 790.174 – Safe Storage of Firearms Required
Criminal liability attaches only if the storage failure actually results in a minor gaining access and either possessing the firearm in public or exhibiting it in a threatening manner. That is a second-degree misdemeanor with up to 60 days in jail. The rule does not apply when a third party’s unlawful entry gave the minor access.
Weapons Florida Bans Outright
Some weapons are illegal to possess in Florida regardless of any license. Possessing or controlling a machine gun, short-barreled rifle, or short-barreled shotgun is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.9Justia Law. Florida Statutes 790.221 – Possession of Short-Barreled Rifle, Short-Barreled Shotgun, or Machine Gun; Penalty A short-barreled rifle has a barrel under 16 inches; a short-barreled shotgun has a barrel under 18 inches.10The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 790 – Weapons and Firearms Firearms lawfully possessed under federal law, such as items properly registered under the National Firearms Act, fall outside the state prohibition.
Bump-fire stocks are also banned. Section 790.222 defines them broadly as any device used to alter a semiautomatic firearm’s rate of fire to mimic automatic fire or exceed what a person could achieve unassisted. Possession, sale, or importation is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.11Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.222 – Bump-Fire Stocks Prohibited
Improper Exhibition of a Weapon
Displaying a firearm, sword, electric weapon, or other dangerous weapon in the presence of others in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening way is a first-degree misdemeanor under Section 790.10, unless the display was necessary self-defense.12Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.10 – Improper Exhibition of Dangerous Weapons or Firearms13The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Mandatory Minimum Sentences14Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 775.083 – Fines
This is one of the most commonly charged weapons offenses in the state. Drawing a firearm to frighten someone during an argument fits the statute squarely. Drawing because you reasonably believe an attack is imminent is self-defense. There is no bright-line rule, and the outcome usually turns on context that a jury weighs.
Weapons at Schools
Section 790.115 treats weapons offenses near schools far more harshly than general improper exhibition. Exhibiting a weapon in a threatening manner at a school, on a school bus, at a bus stop, or within 1,000 feet of a public or private K–12 school during school hours or a school activity is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.15The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.115 – Possessing or Discharging Weapons or Firearms at a School-Sponsored Event or on School Property The school-zone definition also reaches items like box cutters and razor blades.
Simple possession of a firearm on school property is a third-degree felony on its own. Discharging a weapon on school grounds, absent lawful self-defense, becomes a second-degree felony with up to 15 years in prison. If a minor obtains a loaded firearm you left within easy reach and brings it to school, you face a second-degree misdemeanor for the storage violation.
10-20-Life: Firearms in Felonies
Section 775.087, known as 10-20-Life, attaches mandatory minimum prison terms when a firearm is used during specific felonies, with no early release:16The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.087 – Possession or Use of Weapon; Aggravated Battery; Felony Reclassification; Minimum Sentence
- 10-year minimum for possessing a firearm during a qualifying felony, including murder, robbery, burglary, sexual battery, kidnapping, carjacking, home invasion robbery, aggravated battery, and major drug trafficking offenses
- 20-year minimum for discharging a firearm during a qualifying felony
- 25 years to life for discharging a firearm during a qualifying felony and causing death or great bodily harm
These are floors, not ceilings. A judge can sentence higher but cannot go below. The law applies even when using a weapon is not itself an element of the underlying felony, so carrying a gun during a drug deal that might otherwise draw probation can mean a decade in prison.
Risk Protection Orders
Section 790.401, enacted after the 2018 Parkland shooting, lets law enforcement petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from someone who poses a significant danger to themselves or others.17Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.401 – Risk Protection Orders Only law enforcement officers or agencies can file. Private citizens cannot.
The petition must state specific facts supporting the danger claim and identify the firearms and ammunition believed to be in the person’s possession. A hearing must occur within 14 days, and the court can grant an order only on clear and convincing evidence of significant danger. An order lasts up to 12 months and requires the person to surrender all firearms, ammunition, and any concealed carry license.
When the order expires or is vacated, law enforcement returns the surrendered firearms after confirming through a background check that the person is currently eligible. During the order, the person can also transfer the firearms to another eligible individual who passes a background check and agrees to keep them inaccessible to the respondent. Firearms unclaimed for a year after the order ends are disposed of under the agency’s standard procedures.
No Local Gun Rules
Section 790.33 preempts the entire field of firearm and ammunition regulation for the state, covering purchase, sale, ownership, possession, storage, and transportation.18Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.33 – Field of Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition Preempted Any local ordinance or rule that conflicts with state law is automatically void.
Florida’s preemption also imposes personal consequences on officials. A local official who knowingly and willfully violates it faces up to $5,000 in personal civil fines, potential termination or removal from office by the Governor, and a prohibition on using public funds for legal defense. Anyone adversely affected by an illegal local gun ordinance can sue for injunctive relief, attorney fees, and actual damages up to $100,000. Repealing the ordinance after a lawsuit is filed does not defeat the plaintiff’s status as prevailing party for damages purposes.
A Note on Self-Defense
Florida’s self-defense rules sit in Chapter 776, not Chapter 790, but they govern when a firearm can lawfully be used. Section 776.012 authorizes deadly force when you reasonably believe it necessary to prevent imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony, and you have no duty to retreat if you are somewhere you have a legal right to be and are not engaged in criminal activity.
The Castle Doctrine in Section 776.013 goes further inside your home or vehicle. If someone unlawfully and forcefully enters your dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle, the law presumes you had a reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily harm.19Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 776.013 – Home Protection; Use or Threatened Use of Deadly Force; Presumption of Fear of Death or Great Bodily Harm The presumption drops away if the entrant had a legal right to be there, is an identified law enforcement officer, or if you were using the dwelling for criminal activity.