Florida Gun Laws for Non-Residents: Carry, Transport, Reciprocity

Florida gun laws for non-residents allow you to carry a concealed firearm without any Florida-issued permit, provided you meet the same eligibility rules that apply to a Florida concealed weapons license. That change took effect on July 1, 2023. Open carry, however, is still illegal almost everywhere in the state, and several locations remain off-limits even to concealed carriers. If you’re visiting, the rules below are the ones that will shape what you can and can’t do.

Who Can Carry Concealed Without a Permit

Florida’s permitless carry framework under Section 790.01 applies to residents and non-residents alike. You don’t need the license, but you do need to satisfy every one of the background criteria Florida uses to issue it.¹

At least 21 years old.
No felony conviction, unless your civil and firearm rights have been formally restored.
No record of substance abuse, including two or more DUI convictions in the prior three years.
No active injunction for domestic violence or repeat violence.
No commitment to a mental institution and no adjudication of mental incompetence.
No dishonorable discharge from the military.

The waiver removes the permit requirement, not the background rules behind it.² Carrying while ineligible exposes you to felony charges. Active-duty servicemembers and veterans with an honorable discharge are exempt from the 21-year age floor under the statute, though federal law separately bars handgun possession by anyone under 18.

Keep a valid government-issued photo ID on you whenever you’re armed. Officers can ask you to identify yourself, and having no way to verify your age turns a routine stop into a much longer encounter.

Open Carry Is Still Illegal

This is where visitors most often get in trouble. Florida prohibits openly carrying any firearm on or about your person, with narrow exceptions for activities like fishing, hunting, camping, and target shooting. Walking around a Florida city with a holstered pistol visible on your hip is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.³

The law allows a brief, unintentional display of a concealed firearm, such as when your shirt rides up or you’re adjusting your holster, so long as the display isn’t angry or threatening. Deliberate open carry crosses the line. If you’re driving in from an open-carry state, adjust your habits before you cross the state line.

Your Home-State Permit Still Matters

Even without a permit requirement, a valid concealed carry license from your home state remains useful in Florida. Under Section 790.015, a non-resident who is at least 21 and holds a valid out-of-state concealed carry license can carry in Florida with that license in immediate possession.¹

The practical benefit is proof of eligibility. During a stop, a valid permit shows an officer you’ve already cleared a background check and any training your state requires. Holders of a valid concealed weapons license from any state are also generally exempt from Florida’s three-business-day waiting period on firearm purchases, which is one more reason to bring the permit along.

Federal Disqualifiers Override State Permission

Florida’s eligibility list isn’t the only hurdle. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) independently bars several categories of people from possessing any firearm anywhere in the United States, and some of these catch visitors off guard:

Fugitives from justice, meaning anyone with an outstanding warrant for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison.
Unlawful users of controlled substances. This includes marijuana, even if it’s legal under the law of the state where you use it.
Non-citizens who are in the United States unlawfully.
People under indictment for a crime punishable by more than a year of imprisonment.
Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, even if the state where the conviction happened has restored their rights.

Federal firearm penalties are heavier than most state charges and follow you into every state.⁴

Where You Can’t Carry

Even with permitless carry, Florida keeps several categories of locations off-limits under Section 790.06(12)(a):

Schools, colleges, and university facilities, with limited exceptions for stun guns.
Professional athletic events not related to firearms.
Courthouses.
Police and sheriff stations.
Polling places.
Government meetings.
Airport terminals past the security checkpoint.
Any portion of a bar or restaurant primarily devoted to serving alcohol for on-premises consumption.

That last one targets the area of an establishment where alcohol service is the main purpose. Carrying in a restaurant that happens to serve drinks is generally fine; carrying at the bar counter inside that restaurant is not.⁵

Federal law adds another layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, firearms are banned inside any building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work. That covers post offices, federal courthouses, Social Security offices, and VA facilities.⁶ National parks and national forests within Florida follow state carry rules on the land itself, so concealed carry is generally permitted outdoors on those properties. Any ranger station, visitor center, or administrative building on that land is federal, though, and is off-limits. The penalty for knowingly bringing a firearm into a federal facility is up to one year in federal prison.

Transporting a Firearm in a Vehicle

Florida law lets anyone lawfully possessing a firearm keep it inside a private vehicle. Under Section 790.25, the firearm must either be carried on your person under the permitless carry rules or be “securely encased” and not readily accessible for immediate use.⁷ Florida defines “securely encased” broadly. Any of the following qualifies:

Inside a glove compartment, locked or unlocked.
In a snapped holster.
Inside a gun case.
In a closed container that requires a lid or cover to be opened, such as a zippered bag.

A firearm sitting loose on the passenger seat or tucked between cushions doesn’t meet the standard. Florida also preempts local firearm regulations, so the rules don’t shift as you drive from one city or county to another.

Flying or Taking Amtrak with a Firearm

If you’re arriving by air, TSA requires you to declare the firearm at the airline ticket counter when checking your bag. The firearm must be unloaded and locked inside a hard-sided container in your checked luggage, and you keep the only key or combination. TSA treats a firearm as loaded if a live round is in the chamber, cylinder, or an inserted magazine, and for enforcement they also treat it as loaded when the gun and loose ammunition are accessible to the passenger in the same container.⁸

Cases that pop open easily won’t qualify, and the box the gun shipped in usually won’t either. Buy a proper hard-sided, lockable case before your trip. Ammunition can go in checked baggage in its original packaging or a container designed for it. It cannot go in carry-on bags at all.

Amtrak allows firearms in checked baggage on routes that offer checked baggage service, but the process is more restrictive. Call Amtrak at least 24 hours before departure to declare the firearm; online reservations don’t cover it. Check in at least 30 minutes early, sign a declaration form, and confirm the firearm is unloaded and inside a locked hard-sided container no larger than 62 by 17 by 7 inches and no heavier than 50 pounds. Handguns in smaller cases must be stored inside a larger checked bag.⁹

Buying a Firearm While Visiting

Non-residents can buy firearms in Florida, but the rules split by type. Federal law prohibits any licensed dealer from transferring a handgun to someone who doesn’t reside in the state where the sale takes place. If you want a handgun from a Florida dealer, the dealer must ship it to a licensed dealer in your home state, where you complete the transfer.⁴

Long guns are different. You can buy a rifle or shotgun directly from a Florida dealer and take it with you, as long as the sale complies with the laws of both Florida and your home state. Every purchase from a licensed dealer runs through a background check processed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Florida also imposes a three-business-day waiting period, with weekends and legal holidays excluded, before the dealer can release the firearm. A valid concealed weapons license from any state generally waives the waiting period.

Self-Defense as an Armed Visitor

Florida is a stand-your-ground state under Section 776.012. You have no duty to retreat before using force, including deadly force, if you reasonably believe it’s necessary to prevent imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony. That protection applies anywhere you have a legal right to be, not only inside your home or hotel room.

The absence of a retreat requirement is a real departure from the law in many northeastern and western states. If you’re used to a jurisdiction that requires you to exhaust retreat options first, Florida gives you broader legal ground but the same demand for sound judgment. The reasonable-belief standard still applies, and prosecutors do charge people who use force out of proportion to the threat. Being legally armed doesn’t lower the threshold for when lethal force is justified.

1
Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 790.015 – Nonresidents; Reciprocity
2
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Eligibility Requirements for a Florida Concealed Weapon License
3
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.053 – Open Carrying of Weapons
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 922 – Unlawful Acts
5
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Possession Restrictions
6
United States Postal Service. Poster 158 – Possession of Firearms and Other Dangerous Weapons on Postal Service Property
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 790.25 – Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Other Weapons
8
Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition
9
Amtrak. Firearms in Checked Baggage