Florida Concealed Carry Permit: Training, Costs, and Renewal

A Florida concealed carry permit, officially the Concealed Weapon or Firearm License, is issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) for $97, lasts seven years, and requires proof of firearms training plus fingerprints.¹ Florida no longer requires a license to carry concealed inside the state, but the license still buys you three things permitless carry does not: recognition in 37 other states, an exemption from the three-day waiting period when you buy a firearm from a dealer, and a clean answer for any officer who wants to verify your eligibility on the spot.²

Who Qualifies

Eligibility lives in Section 790.06, and FDACS screens every applicant against it. You must be at least 21, though active-duty servicemembers and honorably discharged veterans can apply at 18.³ You must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident currently living in the United States. Non-immigrant visa holders cannot apply. Florida residency itself is not required, so out-of-state residents can hold a Florida license.

Several things will disqualify you:

Any felony conviction, unless your civil and firearm rights have been restored by the convicting authority.⁴
A guilty finding within the past three years under Florida’s Chapter 893 controlled-substance laws or a similar law in another state.
Two or more DUI convictions in the previous three years, which Florida treats as evidence of habitual substance abuse.
Commitment to a mental institution or an adjudication of mental incompetence.
An active injunction for protection against domestic violence or repeat violence. Federal law separately prohibits anyone subject to a qualifying protection order from possessing firearms.⁵
Pending criminal charges, which will pause your application until the case is resolved.

Chronic and habitual use of alcohol or controlled substances is a separate disqualifier that does not require a conviction. FDACS looks at your record as a whole.

The Training Requirement

You have to prove firearms competency before FDACS will process your application.⁶ The most common route is a firearms safety course taught by a certified instructor, and it must include a live-fire component where the instructor personally watches you safely handle and discharge a firearm with live ammunition.⁴

Other accepted paths include a state-approved hunter safety course, a course offered by a law enforcement agency, or an NRA-certified course. Active-duty military can submit military orders or a statement of service. Veterans with an honorable discharge can submit their DD-214. Whatever documentation you use goes into the application packet.

How to Apply and What It Costs

FDACS accepts applications three ways: online through the FDACS site, in person at a regional FDACS office or a participating tax collector’s office, or by mail to the Division of Licensing in Tallahassee.⁷ Every route requires a photograph and fingerprints. Regional offices take both on-site. If you apply online or by mail, you will need to get fingerprints taken separately at a local sheriff’s office or law enforcement agency.

The core fees:

License fee: $55 for a new license
Fingerprint processing: $42
Total paid to FDACS: $97, the same for Florida residents and out-of-state applicants
Tax collector convenience fee: up to $22 extra if you apply through a county tax collector
Sheriff’s office fingerprinting: up to $5 if that’s where you get printed

Active Florida law enforcement officers do not pay the fingerprint processing fee, and active judges pay nothing.¹

FDACS runs your prints through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI. By statute, the department has to issue or deny within 90 days of receiving a complete application. Missing information pauses the clock until you fix it. You can track your status through the FDACS online portal using your tracking number.

Why the License Still Beats Permitless Carry

Florida has allowed permitless concealed carry since July 2023. Section 790.01 lets anyone who meets the license eligibility criteria carry concealed without holding the license.⁸ Carrying without meeting those criteria is a third-degree felony for a firearm and a first-degree misdemeanor for a non-firearm concealed weapon.

Three concrete reasons to still get the license:

Purchase waiting period. Florida’s mandatory three-day wait on dealer firearm purchases does not apply to license holders.² Permitless carriers wait; you don’t.

Reciprocity. Permitless carry works only inside Florida. The license is honored in 37 other states, from neighboring Georgia and Alabama across to Texas, Arizona, and up through Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.⁹ States that do not honor the license include New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and D.C. Reciprocity agreements change, so check the FDACS list before you travel. Your Florida license authorizes carry in a reciprocity state; it does not exempt you from that state’s own restrictions on locations, magazine capacity, and the like.

Cleaner police interactions. With a license, your background check is already on file with the state, so any officer can verify your eligibility quickly. Without one, that verification happens on the roadside.

One thing to know about scope: the license, like the underlying statute, covers more than handguns. It applies to concealed handguns, electronic weapons and devices, tear gas guns, knives, and billies. Machine guns are excluded.⁴

Where You Still Cannot Carry

The license does not override the location restrictions in Section 790.06(12). Even with the permit in your pocket, you cannot carry a concealed weapon (or openly carry a handgun) in these places:⁴

Police stations, sheriff’s offices, and highway patrol stations
Courthouses, courtrooms, jails, and prisons (a judge may authorize carry in their own courtroom)
Meetings of county commissions, school boards, municipal bodies, special districts, and the Legislature
Any active polling place
Elementary and secondary school buildings, career centers, and college or university facilities (registered students, employees, and faculty may carry stun guns or nonlethal electric defensive devices on campus)
School, college, and professional athletic events not related to firearms
The portion of any establishment licensed for on-premises alcohol that is primarily devoted to serving alcohol
Inside an airport passenger terminal past the security checkpoint (a cased, unloaded firearm can still enter the terminal for check-in as baggage)
Places declared a legal nuisance
Federal property where federal law prohibits firearms, including post offices, VA facilities, and federal courthouses

Private property owners can also prohibit firearms on their premises. Florida has no specific criminal statute for ignoring a posted “no guns” sign, but staying on the property after being asked to leave can expose you to trespass charges.

Traffic Stops and ID Rules

Florida does not have a duty-to-inform statute, so you are not required to volunteer that you are armed. If an officer asks, you must answer truthfully, and you must display valid identification on demand while carrying.⁴ Failing to show ID when asked is a noncriminal violation with a $25 fine.

Renewal, Address Changes, and Expiration

The license is valid for seven years from the date of issuance. FDACS mails renewal notices about 90 days before expiration, and you can renew as early as 95 days out. Renewal costs $45 for Florida residents. Out-of-state residents pay $87 because their renewal includes new fingerprint processing.¹

Miss the expiration date and you have a 180-day grace period to renew late with a $15 late fee.¹⁰ After that, the license cannot be renewed and you start over with a full $97 new application. While your license is expired, you lose reciprocity and the waiting-period exemption, even though you can still carry inside Florida under permitless carry if you remain eligible.

If you move, you have 30 days to notify FDACS in writing of your new permanent address. Missing that deadline is a noncriminal violation with a $25 penalty. A replacement license showing the new address is $15.

1
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Concealed Weapons License Fees
2
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 790.0655 – Purchase and Delivery of Firearms; Mandatory Waiting Period; Exceptions; Penalties
3
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Eligibility Requirements for a Florida Concealed Weapon License
4
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions
6
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Acceptable Firearms Training Documentation
7
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Applying for a Concealed Weapon License
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying Concealed Weapons
9
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity
10
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Renew Your Concealed Weapon License