The Rules Changed Twice in Three Years
If your sense of Florida carry law is more than a couple of years old, it is out of date. Two changes rewrote it. As of July 1, 2023, Florida allows permitless concealed carry, so an eligible person no longer needs a license to carry a concealed firearm. Then, on September 10, 2025, the First District Court of Appeal struck down Florida’s open-carry ban as unconstitutional in McDaniels v. State, No. 1D2023-0533 (Fla. 1st DCA 2025), and the Attorney General declined to appeal and advised law enforcement across the state to treat open carry as lawful. The result is that Florida is now a constitutional-carry state for eligible people, concealed or open. What did not change is just as important, because the limits on who may carry and where they may carry it are where the arrests now happen.
| Question | Where things stand |
|---|---|
| Do you need a concealed-carry license? | No, for an eligible person, since July 1, 2023 |
| Is open carry legal? | Treated as lawful after McDaniels (Fla. 1st DCA 2025), pending Supreme Court review |
| Can a prohibited person carry? | No, the prohibitions are unchanged |
| Can you carry anywhere? | No, sensitive places remain off limits |
Who Still Cannot Carry
Constitutional carry is for eligible people, and a large group is not eligible no matter what the carry rules say. People with a felony conviction whose firearm rights have not been restored cannot possess a firearm at all, a separate and serious charge on the felon in possession page. Others barred include people under certain domestic-violence injunctions, people adjudicated mentally incompetent, and the other categories listed in state and federal law. For someone in a prohibited class, carrying is not a licensing question, it is a possession crime.
Where You Still Cannot Carry
Even an eligible carrier commits a crime by bringing a firearm into a place the law puts off limits. Section 790.06(12) and section 790.115 keep firearms out of a list of sensitive locations, including any school, college, or school event, courthouses and courtrooms, polling places, government meetings, the secured side of an airport terminal, and any business or part of a business licensed to serve alcohol for consumption on the premises. A private property owner can also prohibit firearms on their property and ask an armed person to leave. Carrying in one of these places is a real charge, and it is one the carry changes did nothing to soften.
When Carrying Is Still a Crime
Because lawful carry by eligible people is now the norm, the charges that remain tend to fall into a few buckets: carrying while a prohibited person, carrying into a prohibited place, and showing or handling a firearm in a way that crosses into improper exhibition under section 790.10, which the carry changes expressly did not touch. The old concealed-carry statute, section 790.01, still reaches people who carry without being eligible. The point is that the question has shifted from whether you had a license to whether you were eligible and where you were.
The Open-Carry Ruling Is Not the Last Word
One caution matters for any open-carry case. McDaniels came from the First District Court of Appeal, and while the Attorney General’s guidance treats it as binding statewide, it conflicts with the Florida Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in Norman v. State, 215 So. 3d 18 (Fla. 2017), which had upheld the open-carry ban under an approach the United States Supreme Court has since rejected. Because the ruling struck down a state statute, the Florida Supreme Court is expected to take up the question, and the answer could change. Anyone charged in connection with open carry is living in an unsettled area of law, which is itself something a defense can use.
How I Approach a Carry Case
The first look is almost always the stop and the search, because if the firearm was found through an unlawful stop or search it can be suppressed, on the search and seizure page. From there it is eligibility, whether the location truly fell within a prohibited place and whether the State can prove it, and, in an open-carry matter, the unsettled state of the law itself. The carry rules changed in the gun owner’s favor, and a charge that ignores those changes is a charge worth challenging.
Related: Weapons charges overview, Felon in possession, Improper exhibition and discharge, and Challenging a search or stop.
I started as an Assistant Public Defender in Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in Tampa, and I am one of six ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientists in the state. A gun case is rarely as airtight as the arrest report makes it sound, and the gaps are where the defense lives. Learn more about my background.
Common Questions
Do I need a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Florida?
Not if you are eligible. Since July 1, 2023, Florida allows permitless concealed carry, so an eligible person can carry a concealed firearm without a license. Eligibility still matters, and people in a prohibited class cannot carry at all.
Is open carry legal in Florida now?
As the law currently stands, yes, for eligible people. In September 2025 the First District Court of Appeal struck down the open-carry ban in McDaniels v. State, and the Attorney General declined to appeal and advised law enforcement statewide to treat open carry as lawful. The question is expected to reach the Florida Supreme Court, so it could change.
Where can I still not carry a firearm in Florida?
Sensitive places remain off limits under sections 790.06(12) and 790.115, including schools and school events, courthouses, polling places, government meetings, the secured side of airport terminals, and businesses licensed to serve alcohol on site. Private property owners can also prohibit firearms on their property.
Can I carry a firearm if I have a felony conviction?
No, not unless your firearm rights have been formally restored. A person with a felony conviction commits a separate second-degree felony by possessing a firearm under section 790.23, regardless of the carry rules. Restoration runs through the clemency process and is limited.
Can I keep a gun in my car?
Generally an eligible person may, and Florida has long protected securely keeping a firearm in a private vehicle. The constitutional-carry changes broadened lawful carry for eligible people, but the prohibitions on who may possess a firearm and where it may be carried still apply.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Firearm law in Florida is changing, so confirm how the current rule applies to your facts with counsel. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
