How to Register a Gun in Florida: Why No Registry Exists

You cannot register a gun in Florida because the state has no firearm registry, and state law makes it illegal for any government agency to keep one. There is no form to file, no office to visit, and no title to put in your name the way you would for a car or a boat. Legal ownership in Florida rests on two things: being eligible to possess a firearm and following the correct procedure when you buy or receive it.

Why No Registry Exists

Florida Statute 790.335 prohibits any state or local government agency, and any official or employee of one, from keeping a list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms or the people who own them.¹ The narrow carve-outs cover records of firearms used in crimes, records of stolen guns held temporarily by law enforcement, and records the federal government independently requires dealers to keep.

When you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer, the dealer keeps the federal paperwork on site, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement destroys its portion of the background check record within 48 hours of approving the sale.² No state database tracks which guns belong to which people, and there is nowhere to add your name to one.

How to Show You Own the Gun

Since there’s no state record to point to, ownership is documented privately. For a firearm bought from a dealer, keep the receipt and any paperwork the dealer gives you. For a firearm received from another individual, create a bill of sale. Florida law does not require one, but it is the single best thing you can do to protect yourself if that gun later shows up somewhere it shouldn’t.

A useful bill of sale includes the firearm’s make, model, and serial number, the date and location of the transfer, and the names, addresses, and contact information of both parties. Both people should keep a copy.

Who Is Eligible to Own a Firearm

Because Florida gates ownership at the point of acquisition rather than through registration, eligibility is where the state’s real controls live. You must be at least 21 years old to buy any firearm from a licensed dealer. This threshold was set by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which raised the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21. Active law enforcement officers and military servicemembers who are at least 18 may still buy rifles and shotguns.² People 18 to 20 may legally possess a firearm; they just can’t purchase from a dealer.

Federal law bars certain people from possessing firearms entirely. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and (n), you cannot possess a firearm if you have a felony conviction, a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, a qualifying domestic violence restraining order against you, a court adjudication as mentally defective or a commitment to a mental institution, a dishonorable military discharge, current unlawful drug use or addiction, a pending felony indictment, or fugitive status.³

Florida’s background check system also flags people who have had adjudication withheld on a felony or a domestic violence misdemeanor, unless three years have passed and all court conditions have been met.²

Buying From a Licensed Dealer

This is the closest thing Florida has to an “official” process, and it’s the one people often have in mind when they ask about registering a gun. Four things happen at the counter.

Form 4473 and ID

You fill out ATF Form 4473, a federal form with basic identifying information and yes-or-no questions about your eligibility.⁴ Lying on it is a federal felony. You also present a valid government-issued photo ID. The dealer keeps the form; it does not go to a state registry.

FDLE Background Check

Florida is a point-of-contact state, so the dealer calls the Florida Department of Law Enforcement rather than the FBI.⁵ FDLE runs state and federal criminal databases. Most checks clear within minutes. The dealer collects a processing fee, capped by statute at $8.²

Three-Day Waiting Period

Florida imposes a three-day waiting period between purchase and delivery for all firearms, with weekends and state holidays excluded from the count.⁶ Some counties extend this to five days by local ordinance.⁷ The waiting period doesn’t apply if you hold a Florida concealed weapons or firearms license, if you’re trading in another firearm as part of the transaction, or, for rifles and shotguns only, if you completed a 16-hour hunter safety course and hold the certification card. Law enforcement, correctional officers, and active military servicemembers are treated as concealed-license holders for waiting period purposes.

Once the wait clears and the check is approved, you pick up the firearm. Nothing else is filed. Your dealer paperwork and receipt are your record.

Private Sales Between Individuals

Florida does not require a background check for a private firearm sale between two individuals who are not licensed dealers. This is one of the biggest differences between buying from a shop and buying from another person. It remains a federal felony, though, to knowingly sell or transfer a firearm to someone who is prohibited from possessing one.³ Both parties should be Florida residents; federal law generally prohibits transferring a firearm to someone you know lives in another state.

You cannot sell a firearm to anyone under 18. Ownership can pass to a minor with a parent or guardian’s permission, but the parent must keep physical possession except during supervised activities like hunting or target shooting.⁸ A parent who willfully allows a minor to possess a firearm outside those limits faces a third-degree felony.⁹

Buying a gun on behalf of someone else who is the actual intended owner is a federal crime called a straw purchase, punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, whether or not the actual recipient is legally allowed to own a firearm.¹⁰ Genuine gifts are legal; acting as a proxy for someone else’s money and decision is not.

The One Category That Really Is Registered: NFA Items

Ordinary firearms are not registered in Florida, but items regulated under the federal National Firearms Act are. Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and similar restricted items must be registered with the ATF through a formal application that includes fingerprints, a passport-style photo, and an enhanced federal background check. You cannot take possession until the ATF approves the application.

A change took effect on January 1, 2026: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the $200 federal excise tax that had applied to suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and “any other weapons” for more than 90 years. The registration requirement itself remains. Machine guns and destructive devices still carry the $200 tax and remain subject to the full NFA process.

Inheriting a Firearm

Federal law carves out an exception for firearms passed through inheritance. If you inherit a firearm from someone in another state, you can receive it without going through a licensed dealer, as long as it would be legal for you to possess it in your state of residence.³ There is nothing to register on the Florida side.

For NFA items, the executor of the estate files an ATF Form 5, a tax-exempt transfer application. The executor may legally possess the registered firearm during probate without that possession counting as a transfer.¹¹ The transfer application must be submitted no later than the close of probate, along with documentation of the executor’s authority, a death certificate, and a copy of the will if one exists.

A Concealed Weapons License Is Not Registration

People sometimes assume a Florida concealed weapons license serves as a kind of gun registration. It doesn’t. The license is tied to you, not to any specific firearm, and it isn’t required to own a gun. What it does is waive the three-day waiting period on new purchases and allow you to legally carry a concealed firearm in public.

To qualify, you must be at least 21 (18 for an active servicemember or an honorably discharged veteran), a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident currently residing in the United States, and able to demonstrate competency with a firearm through a qualifying training course.¹² The same disqualifying factors that prevent purchases also prevent licensure. Applications go through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Holding the license does not exempt you from the FDLE background check when you buy a firearm; it only waives the wait.⁷

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 790 – Weapons and Firearms
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.065 – Sale and Delivery of Firearms
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
4
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Transaction Record – ATF Form 4473
5
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Firearm Purchase Program – Firearm Transaction Decisions
6
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms; Mandatory Waiting Period
7
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Requirements to Purchase a Firearm
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.17 – Furnishing Weapons to Minors Under 18; Penalties
9
Justia Law. Florida Code 790.22 – Use of BB Guns, Air or Gas-Operated Guns, or Electric Weapons or Devices by Minor Under 16; Penalties
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms
11
eRegulations. 27 CFR 479.90a – Estates
12
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Eligibility Requirements for a Florida Concealed Weapon License