What Weapons Are Illegal in Florida to Own or Carry?

The weapons illegal in Florida fall into a few distinct groups: a short list banned outright for everyone, several firearms that are legal only with federal registration, specific types of ammunition, and weapons that become illegal based on who is carrying them or where. Florida law also prohibits certain people from possessing any firearm at all, and bars firearms from a long list of locations even for lawful owners.

Weapons Banned Outright

Two weapons are flatly prohibited in Florida no matter who you are or what license you hold.

A ballistic knife, meaning a knife whose blade detaches and launches from the handle by a spring or compressed gas, is contraband. Manufacturing, selling, possessing, or using one is a first-degree misdemeanor, and law enforcement will seize it on sight.¹

Bump-fire stocks are also banned, and Florida’s definition is wider than the federal one. The statute reaches any device that alters a semiautomatic firearm’s rate of fire to approximate automatic fire or increases the rate beyond what a person could achieve unassisted. That language sweeps in binary triggers and similar accessories, not just the mechanical stocks that drew national attention. Possession, sale, or import is a third-degree felony.² The state ban stands even though the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal bump stock rule in 2024.³

Prohibited Ammunition

Florida outlaws certain ammunition based on what it does on impact. Selling or distributing armor-piercing bullets, exploding bullets, dragon’s breath shotgun shells, bolo shells, or flechette shells is a third-degree felony. Simple possession is not always a crime on its own, but the line moves once the round is loaded. Having an armor-piercing or exploding bullet loaded in a handgun, or a dragon’s breath, bolo, or flechette shell loaded in any firearm, while knowing what the round can do, is also a third-degree felony.⁴

Prosecutors have to show you knew the ammunition’s capability. In practice, if you bought a specialty round sold under its own name, that knowledge is easy to establish.

Firearms That Require Federal Registration

Several firearms are legal to own in Florida only if you first complete federal registration under the National Firearms Act. Without that paperwork, possession is a second-degree felony under state law. If the firearm is lawfully registered under federal law, state charges do not apply.⁵⁶

The NFA covers:

Short-barreled rifles: any rifle with a barrel under 16 inches or overall length under 26 inches.
Short-barreled shotguns: any shotgun with a barrel under 18 inches or overall length under 26 inches.
Machine guns: any firearm that fires more than one shot per trigger pull, including frames, receivers, and conversion parts.
Silencers: any device designed to muffle a firearm’s sound.
Destructive devices: bombs, grenades, rockets with propellant charges over four ounces, missiles with explosive charges over a quarter ounce, mines, and firearms with a bore over half an inch in diameter, excluding sporting shotguns.⁷

Legal possession requires an application to the ATF, a background check, and a $200 federal tax per item.⁸ The firearm must be entered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record before you take possession.⁹ Machine guns carry an additional restriction: federal law generally limits civilian ownership to those manufactured and registered before May 19, 1986.

Concealed Weapons Beyond Firearms

Florida’s weapon rules reach past firearms. The state defines “weapon” to include dirks, metallic knuckles, billies, slungshots, tear gas guns, and chemical devices.¹⁰ Carrying any of these concealed on your person is a first-degree misdemeanor unless you meet the eligibility requirements for concealed carry.¹¹

Florida allows permitless concealed carry, but the eligibility criteria still apply: no felony convictions, no disqualifying mental health adjudications, no active domestic violence injunctions, and so on. Carrying concealed without meeting those criteria is itself the crime, whether or not you ever applied for a license.

Self-defense sprays have their own treatment. A compact canister of two ounces or less carried for lawful self-defense is not classified as a tear gas gun or chemical weapon and falls outside concealed weapon restrictions.¹⁰ Above two ounces, the canister becomes a chemical weapon and the concealed carry rules apply.

One common assumption worth correcting: Florida places no restriction on automatic knives or switchblades. The state never enacted a switchblade ban, so these knives can be legally purchased, owned, and carried.

People Who Cannot Possess Any Firearm

For some individuals, any firearm or ammunition is illegal regardless of type or how it was acquired.

Convicted felons face the broadest ban. A person convicted of a felony in any jurisdiction who possesses a firearm, ammunition, or electric weapon commits a second-degree felony. That reaches felony convictions from other states or countries if the offense carried a potential sentence of more than one year. The prohibition continues until civil rights and firearm authority are formally restored. The same statute applies to anyone under 24 who was adjudicated delinquent for conduct that would have been a felony if committed by an adult.¹²

A separate statute bars anyone subject to a current final injunction for domestic violence, stalking, or cyberstalking from possessing any firearm or ammunition. Violation is a first-degree misdemeanor.¹³ Federal law also prohibits firearm possession by anyone found mentally incompetent by a court or involuntarily committed to a mental institution.

Where Firearms Become Illegal to Carry

A lawfully owned firearm becomes illegal the moment you bring it into certain places, and these limits apply to everyone, including people carrying under the permitless carry law. Knowingly and willfully bringing a firearm into a prohibited location is a second-degree misdemeanor.¹⁴

The prohibited locations include:

Police stations, sheriff’s offices, and highway patrol stations
Jails, prisons, and detention facilities
Courthouses and courtrooms, though judges may authorize specific individuals in their courtroom
Polling places
Meetings of a county, municipal, or special district governing body
Meetings of the Legislature or any legislative committee
Elementary and secondary school buildings and administration offices
Career centers
College and university facilities, with a narrow exception for students, employees, and faculty carrying only stun guns or nonlethal electric devices for self-defense
School, college, or professional athletic events not related to firearms
The portion of a bar or restaurant primarily devoted to on-premises alcohol consumption
The passenger terminal and sterile area of an airport, though a lawful, cased firearm may still be brought into the terminal to check as baggage
Any place declared a nuisance under Florida law
Any location where federal law prohibits firearms¹⁴

That last item pulls in federal restrictions on firearms in federal buildings where federal employees work, with harsher penalties for federal courthouses and for carrying a weapon into a federal building intending to use it in a crime.¹⁵ Federal facilities include post offices, Social Security offices, VA buildings, and similar locations.

Who Can Buy, and the Waiting Period

You must be at least 21 to purchase any firearm from a licensed dealer in Florida. A dealer who sells to someone under 21 commits a third-degree felony, as does a buyer who circumvents the rule. The only exception covers law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and active servicemembers buying a rifle or shotgun.¹⁶ Florida’s age rule is stricter than federal law, which allows licensed dealers to sell long guns to anyone 18 or older.

A three-day waiting period runs between purchase and delivery. The three days are business days, so weekends and legal holidays do not count, and if the background check takes longer than three days you wait until it clears.¹⁷

The waiting period does not apply if you:

Hold a valid Florida concealed weapons or firearms license, or qualify as a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or active servicemember
Are trading in another firearm as part of the transaction
Are buying a rifle or shotgun and have completed a 16-hour hunter safety course with a current certification card, or hold a valid Florida hunting license and are otherwise exempt from the course¹⁷

A retailer who delivers before the waiting period expires commits a third-degree felony, and so does a buyer who uses fraud to skip it.¹⁷

Risk Protection Orders

Florida courts can temporarily remove firearms from someone who poses a significant danger of harming themselves or others. Only a law enforcement officer or agency can petition. Family members, coworkers, and mental health professionals cannot file directly.¹⁸

A judge can issue a temporary order without the respondent present, and that order stays in effect until a full hearing. If the court then finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person poses a significant danger, it issues a final risk protection order lasting up to 12 months, extendable for another 12 if the danger persists. The respondent must surrender all firearms, ammunition, and any concealed carry license to local law enforcement, or arrange a transfer to another eligible person who passes a background check and commits to keeping the weapons away from the respondent.¹⁸

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.225 – Ballistic Self-Propelled Knives; Unlawful to Manufacture, Sell, or Possess; Forfeiture; Penalty
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.222 – Bump-Fire Stocks Prohibited
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Bump Stocks
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.31
5
Justia. Florida Code 790.221 – Possession of Short-Barreled Rifle, Short-Barreled Shotgun, or Machine Gun; Penalty
6
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.221 – Possession of Short-Barreled Rifle, Short-Barreled Shotgun, or Machine Gun; Penalty
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions
8
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Handbook – Chapter 4
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5841 – Registration of Firearms
10
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.001 – Definitions
11
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms
12
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.23 – Felons and Delinquents; Possession of Firearms, Ammunition, or Electric Weapons or Devices Unlawful
13
Justia. Florida Statutes 790.233 – Possession of Firearm or Ammunition Prohibited When Person Is Subject to an Injunction Against Committing Acts of Domestic Violence, Stalking, or Cyberstalking; Penalties
14
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Firearm
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
16
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.065 – Sale and Delivery of Firearms
17
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms; Mandatory Waiting Period; Exceptions; Penalties
18
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 790.401 – Risk Protection Orders