Florida Concealed Carry Laws: Permitless Rules and Penalties

Florida’s concealed carry laws let anyone 21 or older who is legally eligible to possess a firearm carry a concealed handgun without a government-issued permit, a change that took effect on July 1, 2023 when House Bill 543 became law.¹ Open carry is still a crime, you have to keep valid ID on you whenever you carry, and a long list of locations remain off-limits to armed civilians. Florida also still issues an optional Concealed Weapon or Firearm License, which most out-of-state travel actually requires.

Who Can Carry Concealed Without a Permit

Florida Statute 790.01 lets you carry concealed if you either hold a state license or meet the same eligibility standards a license requires.² Those standards come from Section 790.06 and apply to residents and visitors alike. A nonresident who qualifies can carry in Florida on the same terms as a Floridian.³

You must satisfy every one of the following:

Be at least 21 years old.
Be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident alien living in the United States.
Have no felony conviction. A withheld adjudication on a felony or on a misdemeanor crime of violence disqualifies you unless three years have passed since you completed probation and all court-imposed conditions, or the record has been expunged.
Have no controlled-substance conviction within the three years before you start carrying, and no commitment for substance abuse treatment.
Not be a chronic alcohol abuser. Two or more DUI convictions in the preceding three years create a legal presumption that you are disqualified, and a single conviction under Florida’s statute for using a firearm while intoxicated does the same.
Have no active injunction for domestic violence, repeat violence, or a similar protective order.
Not have been adjudicated incapacitated or committed to a mental institution.
Have no physical condition that prevents you from safely handling a firearm.

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The practical difference from the old system is that no one screens you up front. When a permit was required, FDACS ran the background check before you could carry. Now you are personally responsible for knowing whether you qualify. If a police encounter reveals that you fail even one criterion, you face criminal charges rather than a rejected application.

You Have to Carry ID

Permitless carry did not remove every obligation. Anyone carrying concealed without a license must have valid identification on their person at all times and must show it immediately when a law enforcement officer asks. Failing to do so is a noncriminal infraction with a $25 fine.⁵ A driver’s license or REAL ID card satisfies the requirement. The ticket itself is small, but the encounter that follows an inability to identify yourself while armed rarely stays small.

Open Carry Is Still Illegal

HB 543 covered concealed firearms only. Openly carrying a firearm or electric weapon in public remains a criminal offense under Section 790.053.⁶ The narrow exceptions are self-defense chemical sprays and nonlethal stun guns designed solely for defensive use. If your concealed handgun briefly becomes visible, that is not a violation as long as the display was unintentional and not done in an angry or threatening way. Deliberately carrying a handgun on your hip in a visible holster will get you arrested.

Where You Cannot Carry

Even if you meet every eligibility requirement, Florida law bans concealed weapons in a specific list of places. These restrictions apply equally to permitless carriers and to license holders. Under Section 790.06(12), off-limits locations include:⁴

Police stations, sheriff’s offices, and highway patrol stations.
Courthouses, courtrooms, detention facilities, prisons, and jails. A judge may authorize specific individuals to carry in the judge’s own courtroom.
Elementary and secondary school buildings and administrative offices, and college or university facilities. Registered students, employees, and faculty may carry a nonlethal defensive stun gun on a university campus.
Meetings of a county commission, city council, school board, special district board, or the state Legislature and its committees.
Any polling place during an election.
Any school, college, or professional sporting event that is not firearms-related.
The portion of any establishment licensed to serve alcohol on-premises that is primarily devoted to that purpose. A restaurant’s dining room is usually fine; the bar itself is not.
Career centers.
Airport passenger terminals and sterile areas. You may still bring a legally encased firearm into a terminal to check it as baggage.
Places declared a nuisance under Florida law, such as properties used for illegal drug activity or prostitution.
Anywhere federal law prohibits firearms.

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Note what is not on this list: churches, hospitals, banks, and private businesses generally. A private property owner can still ban firearms on their premises, though. Carry past a posted “no firearms” sign and refuse to leave when asked, and you can be charged with trespassing.

Federal Buildings and Post Offices

The catch-all for federal restrictions reaches further than most people expect. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, firearms are banned inside any building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work. Federal courthouses, Social Security offices, VA facilities, and IRS offices fall inside that ban regardless of your Florida carry status.

Post offices operate under a separate federal regulation, and carry inside a post office or on postal property remains illegal for the general public. National parks are the reverse: since 2010, carry inside a national park follows the law of the state you are standing in, so Florida’s rules apply inside Florida’s national parks. Any federal building within the park, including visitor centers and ranger stations, is still covered by the federal building ban. If you visit a park, you can carry on the trails but need to secure the firearm in a locked container in your vehicle before entering any staffed federal structure.

Carrying in Your Vehicle

Florida has always been more permissive about firearms inside cars than about carrying on foot. Under Section 790.25, anyone 18 or older who legally possesses a handgun can keep it inside a private vehicle so long as it is “securely encased” or otherwise not readily accessible for immediate use.⁸ Securely encased generally means in a glove compartment (locked or not), a snapped holster, a closed container, or a gun case. That rule reaches people under 21 who would not qualify for permitless carry on their person.

If you are 21 or older and meet the permitless carry eligibility requirements, you can carry the firearm on your body inside the vehicle, the same way you could walking down the sidewalk. The securely-encased rule only matters for people who don’t qualify to carry on their person.

Medical Marijuana and Guns Don’t Mix

Florida legalized medical marijuana, but federal law still classifies marijuana as a controlled substance. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), anyone who uses marijuana is an unlawful user of a controlled substance and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. A Florida medical marijuana card is not an exemption. Use marijuana and carry a firearm, and you are violating federal law regardless of the state card, and you are also making a false statement if you answer “no” to the drug-use question on ATF Form 4473 when buying from a licensed dealer.

Florida’s permitless carry statute carries the same controlled-substance disqualifier. A drug conviction within the last three years, or a commitment for substance abuse treatment, makes you ineligible under state law as well.⁴

Penalties for Carrying Illegally

Carrying a concealed firearm while ineligible is a third-degree felony under Florida law, punishable by up to five years in prison. Carrying a concealed non-firearm weapon (a knife, metallic knuckles) while ineligible is a first-degree misdemeanor with up to a year in jail.²

A felony conviction for illegal carry compounds itself. The conviction makes you a prohibited person under state and federal law, so you lose the right to possess any firearm going forward unless your rights are later restored. Assess honestly whether you meet every eligibility criterion before you carry, because the failure mode here is not a fine.

Why a License Still Matters

Permitless carry made a license optional inside Florida. Outside Florida, the license is the whole ballgame. Florida has reciprocity agreements with 37 states, and those states will honor your Florida license and let you carry there legally.⁹ Without a license, your Florida authorization stops at the state line. Many states that have their own permitless carry laws still require out-of-state visitors to hold a recognized permit.

The license also smooths out police encounters, because the card is pre-verified proof of eligibility instead of something an officer has to work out on the shoulder. A Florida license does not, however, exempt you from a NICS check. You will still go through a federal background check every time you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer.¹⁰ The license is valid for seven years.

How to Apply

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services runs the license program. You will need proof of firearms competency and fingerprints.¹¹ Acceptable competency documentation includes a certificate from a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-approved hunter safety course, any NRA firearms safety or training course, a firearms course taught by a law enforcement agency or by NRA- or state-certified instructors at a college or private institution, or a law enforcement firearms course for security guards, investigators, or special deputies.¹² Former military members can substitute a DD-214 showing honorable discharge.

You can apply through the FDACS online portal or in person at a participating Tax Collector’s office. The in-person route is usually faster because the office can do digital fingerprinting, your photograph, and the application in one visit. State fees for a new Florida resident license total $97: a $55 initial license fee and $42 for fingerprint processing.¹³ Tax Collector offices may add a convenience fee of up to $22. Once FDACS receives a complete application, it has 90 days to issue or deny the license, and that window can extend up to 45 additional days if the background check turns up criminal history that needs further research.⁴

1
Executive Office of the Governor. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs HB 543 – Constitutional Carry
2
The Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms
3
Florida Senate. CS/HB 543 – Public Safety
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm
5
The Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.013 – Carrying Concealed Firearms Without a License – Requirements
6
The Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons
7
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Possession Restrictions
8
The Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
9
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity
10
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Brady Permit Chart
11
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Applying for a Concealed Weapon License
12
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Acceptable Firearms Training Documentation
13
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapons License Fees