Florida Constitutional Carry Laws: Who Can Carry and Where

Florida’s constitutional carry law lets anyone 21 or older carry a concealed firearm without a state-issued permit, as long as they meet the same eligibility rules that apply to licensed carriers. The change took effect on July 1, 2023.¹ It did not legalize open carry, did not repeal the concealed weapon license, and did not remove any of the criminal penalties for carrying when you’re not eligible or in a place where firearms are banned.

Who Qualifies to Carry Without a Permit

Section 790.01(1)(b) allows you to carry concealed without a license only if you meet the same criteria the state uses to issue one under Section 790.06(2).²³ In plain terms, you must be:

At least 21 years old. Active-duty military and honorably discharged veterans qualify at 18.
A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Free of the disqualifying criminal, mental health, and substance history described below.

Who Cannot Carry

The eligibility criteria are strict, and failing any one of them makes concealed carry a crime whether or not you have a permit.

Anyone convicted of a felony in any jurisdiction is barred from possessing firearms entirely under Section 790.23.⁴
Anyone who had adjudication withheld or sentence suspended on a misdemeanor domestic violence offense is disqualified for at least three years after completing all court conditions. An active injunction for domestic violence or repeat violence also disqualifies.³
Anyone adjudicated incapacitated under Section 744.331 or committed to a mental institution under Chapter 394 is ineligible until rights are restored through a court order.³
A conviction for any controlled substance offense within the past three years disqualifies, as does a commitment for substance abuse treatment.³
Two or more DUI convictions in the past three years create a legal presumption that you are a habitual user of alcohol or controlled substances, which disqualifies you.³

Federal prohibitions apply on top of state law. If you’re barred federally, for example as an unlawful user of a controlled substance or a person dishonorably discharged from the military, Florida’s law does not lift that bar.

Concealed Only. Open Carry Is Still Illegal

The law only covers concealed carry. Section 790.053 continues to prohibit openly carrying a firearm on or about your person.⁵ The firearm must be hidden from ordinary sight through clothing, a concealment holster, or similar method. A brief and unintentional exposure, such as a shirt riding up, is not a violation as long as you weren’t displaying the weapon in a threatening way.

Open carry is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.⁵⁶ Narrow exceptions cover hunting, fishing, camping, and travel to and from those activities under Section 790.25(3)(h).⁷

Places You Still Cannot Carry

Section 790.06(12)(a) lists locations where concealed firearms are off-limits regardless of permit status:³

Police, sheriff, and highway patrol stations.
Jails, prisons, and other detention facilities.
Courthouses, legislative sessions, and meetings of county commissions, city councils, school boards, and special district boards.
Elementary and secondary school buildings and administrative facilities, career centers, and college or university facilities. Students, employees, and faculty may carry nonlethal stun devices under a narrow exception.
Polling places.
School, college, or professional athletic events not related to firearms.
Any portion of an establishment primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-premises consumption.
Airport passenger terminals and sterile areas, though a properly encased firearm can be brought to the airline counter for checked baggage.
Federal properties where federal law prohibits firearms, including post offices and federal courthouses.

Carrying into any of these locations is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.⁸ The same firearm that’s legal on a sidewalk becomes a felony the moment you walk through a courthouse door.

Private Property

Property owners and business operators can prohibit firearms on their premises. If a manager asks you to leave, you must go. Refusing while armed turns a simple trespass into armed trespass in a structure, a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison.⁹ The same penalty applies to armed trespass on posted land or other non-structure property.¹⁰

Local Ordinances Cannot Add Restrictions

Florida preempts firearms regulation at the state level. Under Section 790.33, no county or city can enact its own rules on the purchase, sale, possession, or transportation of firearms, and any local rule that tries to is void. A local official who knowingly violates preemption faces a personal civil fine of up to $5,000 and possible removal from office.¹¹

Carrying in Your Vehicle

Two separate rules govern firearms in cars. Under Section 790.25(4), any lawful gun owner 18 or older can keep a handgun in a private vehicle if it’s securely encased and not readily accessible for immediate use. Securely encased means snapped in a holster, zipped in a case, or closed inside the glove compartment. Under this rule alone, you can’t carry the handgun on your body.¹²

If you qualify for permitless carry, Section 790.25(4)(b)(2) also lets you carry the handgun concealed on your person while in the vehicle, for example in a hip or waistband holster. Rifles and shotguns can be carried anywhere inside a private vehicle for a lawful purpose, without the securely encased requirement.¹²

Identification During a Police Encounter

If you carry without a license, Section 790.013 requires you to carry valid ID and show it to any officer who asks.¹³ A driver’s license or state ID satisfies the rule. Failing to produce ID is a noncriminal violation with a $25 fine, not a criminal charge.

Florida does not require you to volunteer that you’re armed. If an officer asks, answer honestly; otherwise there’s no legal duty to bring it up. Many instructors still recommend disclosing because it tends to keep the encounter calm.

Visitors From Other States

Permitless carry applies to non-residents too. A visitor can carry concealed in Florida if they’re a U.S. resident, at least 21, and meet all the eligibility criteria that apply to Floridians.¹⁴ A non-resident with a concealed carry permit from a state Florida recognizes through reciprocity can also carry under that permit.¹⁵

Reasons to Get the License Anyway

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services still issues concealed weapon licenses, and there are practical reasons to hold one.

The license gives you reciprocity in roughly 37 states. Florida’s permitless carry status does not follow you across state lines, so without the license you have to research each destination state’s own rules before carrying there.¹⁵
License holders skip Florida’s three-day waiting period (excluding weekends and holidays) between buying and receiving a firearm from a dealer.¹⁶¹⁷
License holders are also exempt from the point-of-sale background check that Florida otherwise requires for every dealer transaction, because they already passed one during licensing.¹⁷

The initial license runs $119 for Florida residents, including fingerprints and the tax collector’s processing fee. Renewal is $57. A required firearms safety course typically costs $100 to $150.

Buying a Firearm Is a Separate Process

Permitless carry changed the rules on carrying, not on buying. Every purchase from a licensed dealer still runs through a Florida Department of Law Enforcement background check against state and national databases.¹⁷ The three-day waiting period applies to all purchases unless you hold a concealed weapon license or qualify for another statutory exemption, such as trading in an existing firearm.¹⁶ You must be at least 21 to buy from a dealer. Some counties and cities have stretched the waiting period to as long as five days by local ordinance.

Penalties for Carrying Illegally

Carrying a concealed firearm without meeting the eligibility criteria is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.¹⁸ Carrying a concealed weapon other than a firearm (a knife or electric weapon, for example) without qualifying is a first-degree misdemeanor with up to a year in jail.

Carrying into a prohibited location is also a third-degree felony, even for someone otherwise fully eligible. The charges stack. A prohibited person who carries into a prohibited location can face both, and armed trespass on private property piles on from there. Dropping the permit requirement did not soften any of the consequences for getting it wrong.

1
Executive Office of the Governor. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs HB 543 – Constitutional Carry
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.06 – License to Carry Concealed Weapon or Concealed Firearm
4
Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code Chapter 0790 – Weapons and Firearms
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties, Applicability of Sentencing Structures, Mandatory Minimum Sentences
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 810.08 – Trespass in Structure or Conveyance
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 810.09 – Trespass on Property Other Than Structure or Conveyance
11
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.33 – Field of Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition Preempted
12
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.013 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms Without a License
14
Florida Senate. CS/HB 543 – Public Safety
15
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity
16
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Requirements to Purchase a Firearm
17
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.065 – Sale and Delivery of Firearms
18
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.01 – Carrying of Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms