Does Florida Require Background Checks for Gun Purchases?

Yes. Florida requires a background check for every gun purchase made through a licensed dealer, with no exceptions based on the type of firearm or the buyer’s age. The check is run by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement rather than the FBI, and a three-day waiting period applies on top of the check itself. Private sales between two unlicensed individuals are a different matter and are addressed further down.

How the Check Works

Florida is a “point of contact” state. When you buy from a licensed dealer, the dealer contacts FDLE’s Firearm Purchase Program instead of going directly to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. FDLE then searches both the Florida Crime Information Center and national criminal databases before deciding whether you’re eligible.¹ Running both layers catches disqualifying records that sometimes live only in state files, like withheld adjudications on felony charges or arrests that haven’t yet been resolved in court.²

The dealer can charge you a processing fee for the check, capped by statute at $8.¹ Florida does not require a separate permit or license to purchase a firearm. Holding a Florida concealed weapon or firearm license does not exempt you from the background check either; FDLE still runs the check every time.³

What the Purchase Looks Like Start to Finish

You fill out ATF Form 4473, the federal firearms transaction record, which asks for your name, date of birth, and other identifying information.⁴ You present government-issued photo ID. The dealer sends your information to FDLE by phone or electronically.

An FDLE analyst returns one of three results. Approval comes with a unique transaction number that the dealer records. Non-approval means the sale cannot go through. A “decision pending” result means FDLE found a record that needs a closer look, and it moves to the Eligibility Research Unit for further review.² Records from out of state, from the military, or from before 1990 tend to take the longest.

The Three-Day Waiting Period

Florida imposes a mandatory three-day waiting period between purchase and delivery of any firearm. Weekends and state holidays don’t count. The waiting period runs until three days have passed or the background check clears, whichever comes later. A fast check does not shorten the wait; a slow check can extend it.⁵

Several categories of buyers skip the waiting period:

Holders of a valid Florida concealed weapon or firearm license issued under Section 790.06.
Buyers trading in another firearm as part of the transaction.
Buyers of rifles or shotguns who have completed at least a 16-hour hunter safety course and hold the certification card, or who are exempt from the course and hold a valid Florida hunting license.
Active law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and servicemembers.

A dealer who delivers a firearm before the waiting period expires commits a third-degree felony, and a buyer who obtains a firearm through fraud to circumvent the wait commits the same offense.⁵

Who Cannot Pass the Check

Federal law bars ten categories of buyers, and Florida layers its own restrictions on top. FDLE screens for all of the following:³

Conviction of a felony or equivalent offense.
Conviction of a misdemeanor involving physical force or a threatened deadly weapon against a spouse, parent, child, co-parent, cohabitant, or current or recent dating partner.
Being a fugitive from justice or under indictment for a felony.
Having been found mentally defective by a court or involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
Being an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.
Being in the country illegally.
Dishonorable discharge from the U.S. military.
Renunciation of U.S. citizenship.
Being subject to a restraining order or injunction for protection.

Florida goes further than federal law in several respects. If a court withheld adjudication on a felony or a domestic violence misdemeanor, you remain barred for three years after completing all sentencing conditions. Juveniles adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would have been a felony if committed by an adult are barred until age 24 or until the record is expunged. A recent arrest for a potentially disqualifying crime can block a purchase before the case is resolved.²

Florida’s risk protection order law, enacted in 2018, is another route to a denial. A court can order someone to surrender their firearms and bar them from buying more if clear and convincing evidence shows they pose a significant danger to themselves or others. Only law enforcement officers or agencies can petition. An active order is entered into state and national databases, so it surfaces during any background check.⁶

Extra Rules for Buyers Under 21

Since 2022, federal law requires an expanded check for anyone under 21. In addition to the standard databases, the system must search juvenile criminal history and juvenile mental health adjudication records, and contact local law enforcement in the buyer’s jurisdiction.⁷

The timeline is different too. If nothing potentially disqualifying surfaces within three business days, the sale can move forward. If the system flags a possible juvenile record, it gets an additional ten business days to investigate. If no final answer arrives after those ten days, the dealer may complete the transfer.⁷ A buyer under 21 can wait up to 13 business days in the worst case, well beyond the standard three-day floor.

Private Sales and Out-of-State Transfers

Florida’s background check rule applies to sales by licensed dealers. Private sales between two individuals who are not licensed dealers do not require a background check under either Florida or federal law. That covers home sales, online listings, and gun shows. Florida does not separately regulate gun shows, so a licensed dealer at a show still has to run a check, but a private seller at the same show does not.

Selling a firearm to anyone you know or have reason to believe is legally prohibited from owning one is still a crime, whether or not a background check is involved. The private-sale exemption is not a shield for sellers who ignore obvious red flags.

Interstate transfers are more restricted. Federal law prohibits an unlicensed individual from directly transferring a firearm to someone who lives in a different state, whether the transfer is a sale, gift, trade, or loan.⁸ To transfer to an out-of-state resident lawfully, you ship or deliver the firearm to a licensed dealer in the recipient’s state, who runs a background check and completes the transfer.⁹ Narrow exceptions exist for firearms inherited through a will or estate and for temporary loans for lawful sporting purposes.

If You’re Denied

A non-approval from FDLE means your identifying information matched a record containing a prohibition.² Sometimes the match is accurate. Sometimes it is a records error: a common name matching someone else’s record, an expunged conviction that never got updated, or an offense misclassified in the database.

You can appeal by sending a written request to FDLE’s Firearms Appeal Section. Include your full name, date of birth, social security number, the transaction number if you have it, and any documentation supporting your case. FDLE has 30 business days from receipt to review the record and notify you in writing. If your denial rests on a records error, court documents showing how the underlying case was actually resolved will speed things up.

Penalties for Lying or Straw Purchasing

Lying on Form 4473, whether about your identity, criminal history, or who the gun is actually for, is a federal felony. The most heavily prosecuted version is a straw purchase, where someone who can pass the check buys a firearm on behalf of someone who cannot. Under federal law, a straw purchase carries up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. If the firearm is used to commit a felony, an act of terrorism, or a drug trafficking crime, the maximum climbs to 25 years.¹⁰ ATF investigates these cases actively, and federal prosecutors bring them regularly.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.065 – Sale and Delivery of Firearms
2
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Firearm Transaction Decisions
3
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Requirements to Purchase a Firearm
4
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms, Mandatory Waiting Period, Exceptions, Penalties
6
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.401 – Risk Protection Orders
7
U.S. Congress. S.2938 – Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
9
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF P 5300.21 – Transfers of Firearms by Private Sellers
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms