Do You Need a Concealed Carry Permit in Florida?

No, you do not need a concealed carry permit in Florida. Since July 1, 2023, anyone who meets the eligibility rules for a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License (CWFL) can carry a concealed firearm without actually holding the license.¹ The catch is that every eligibility rule and every location restriction still applies to you, and carrying while ineligible is still a third-degree felony. For a lot of Floridians, the license is worth getting anyway, mostly because of a federal school-zone law that permitless carry doesn’t fix.

What Permitless Carry Actually Changed

Before July 2023, carrying a concealed firearm in Florida without a CWFL was a crime. House Bill 543 removed the requirement to hold the physical license. It did not remove the underlying rules about who may carry.¹

You no longer have to take a training course, submit fingerprints, or pass a background check before you carry. In a prosecution, the state now has to prove the person carrying was ineligible for a CWFL, rather than the carrier proving they had one.¹

One thing the law did not do: legalize open carry. Openly carrying a firearm in Florida remains a second-degree misdemeanor, with narrow exceptions for self-defense sprays and nonlethal stun guns.²

Who Qualifies to Carry Without a Permit

Permitless carry is not open to everyone. You have to meet every eligibility criterion that would qualify you for a CWFL under Florida Statute 790.06. The baseline is being a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and at least 21 years old.³ Florida residency isn’t required, so eligible visitors from other states can carry here too.

You cannot carry if any of the following applies to you:

A felony conviction, unless your civil and firearm rights have been formally restored.
A conviction for a misdemeanor crime of violence within the past three years.
A conviction for a drug-related crime within the past three years, or a commitment for substance abuse treatment.
A court finding that you are mentally incompetent, a danger to yourself or others, or an involuntary commitment to a mental institution. A voluntary admission counts only if an examining physician certified that involuntary commitment would otherwise have been ordered.
A physical condition that prevents you from safely handling a firearm.
Chronic alcohol or drug use that impairs your normal faculties, or two or more DUI convictions in the past three years.
A current domestic violence injunction or injunction against repeat violence.

Nobody checks any of this before you carry. But if you’re stopped or involved in an incident and it turns out one of these applied to you, the criminal exposure is serious.

What Counts as Concealed, and What Happens If You Carry Illegally

Florida defines a concealed firearm as any firearm carried on or about a person in a way that hides it from ordinary sight. A “concealed weapon” is broader and includes dirks, metallic knuckles, billie clubs, tear gas guns, chemical weapons, and other deadly weapons carried out of sight.⁴

Carrying a concealed firearm while ineligible is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.⁵⁶ Carrying a concealed non-firearm weapon while ineligible is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. Carrying in a prohibited location, even if you’re otherwise eligible, is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

Where You Still Cannot Carry

The list of off-limits places didn’t change. It applies the same way to permitless carriers and CWFL holders:

Police stations, sheriff’s offices, and highway patrol stations.
Prisons, jails, and detention centers.
Courthouses and courtrooms.
Polling places during voting.
Meetings of a governing body, including legislative sessions.
Elementary schools, secondary schools, career centers, and college campuses.
The portion of any establishment primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-premises consumption. In a restaurant with both a bar and a dining room, this targets the bar section, not the whole building.
Any school, college, or professional sporting event not related to firearms.
The sterile area of an airport past security, along with any location where federal law prohibits firearms.

Violating any of these is a second-degree misdemeanor.³

The Federal School Zone Problem

This is the one that catches people. Federal law makes it a crime to possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, punishable by up to five years in federal prison. The Gun-Free School Zones Act contains an exception for people who hold a state-issued license, but only if the state verifies eligibility before issuing that license.⁷

A Florida CWFL fits the exception because the state runs a background check and fingerprint review before issuing it. Permitless carry, by design, involves no prior government verification. A federal judge has determined that the state-license exception requires some form of government verification before a person carries, meaning permitless carry laws likely do not satisfy the federal exemption.

The 1,000-foot buffer around every school is difficult to avoid in most Florida neighborhoods. If you carry without a CWFL and drive or walk past a school, you may be violating federal law even if Florida law is fine with it. CWFL holders don’t have this problem.

Why Many People Still Get a CWFL

The license isn’t required anymore, but it solves problems that permitless carry doesn’t.

Reciprocity in Other States

A Florida CWFL is recognized by roughly 36 other states through reciprocity agreements. Without it, your ability to carry ends at the state line, and you’re subject to whatever the next state’s law says, which in many cases still requires a permit.

Skipping the Firearm Waiting Period

Florida imposes a mandatory three-day waiting period, excluding weekends and holidays, between purchasing and taking delivery of a firearm from a licensed dealer. Some counties and cities have extended this to as long as five days. CWFL holders are exempt and can take delivery the same day.⁸

Federal School Zones

The CWFL is what keeps you on the right side of the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act during ordinary travel, for the reasons already covered.⁷

Cleaner Police Encounters

Presenting a CWFL during a stop immediately shows that you passed a background check and were vetted by the state. A permitless carrier has nothing to hand over, which can prolong an interaction while officers work out whether any of the disqualifiers apply. CWFL holders are required to carry ID while armed and to display the license on request; failing to produce it is a noncriminal violation with a $25 fine.³

How to Apply for a CWFL

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services administers the license. You submit an application with fingerprints, proof of firearms competency (such as a certified safety course or proof of military service), and a passport-style color photograph. Applications go to participating county tax collector offices or by mail to the department, which runs a fingerprint-based background check.³

The license is valid for seven years. Renewal requires a renewal form, a new photograph, and the fee. The department mails a renewal notice at least 90 days before expiration. If you miss the expiration, you can still renew with a $15 late fee, but once 180 days pass the license is permanently expired and you have to start over. Out-of-state residents also have to resubmit fingerprints at renewal.³

1
Florida Senate. House of Representatives Staff Analysis – CS/HB 543 Concealed Carry of Weapons and Firearms Without a License
2
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms
4
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.001 – Definitions
5
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.01 – Carrying Concealed Weapons
6
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.082 – Penalties Applicability of Sentencing Structures
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms Mandatory Waiting Period