St. Petersburg gun charge lawyer

Florida permitless carry: what changed in 2023

Since July 1, 2023, section 790.01 has allowed a person to carry a concealed handgun or other weapon without a license, as long as they meet most of the requirements for a concealed weapons license. You don't have to take the training course or apply to the state, but you do have to be someone who would qualify.

If you carry without a license, you must have valid identification with you and show it when a law enforcement officer asks. Failing to do that is a noncriminal violation with a $25 fine. The bigger risk is carrying when you don't actually qualify, because that turns a lawful carry into a crime.

Who can't carry a gun in Florida

Permitless carry only covers people who meet the eligibility rules in section 790.06(2). You are not eligible to carry if any of these apply:

• You're under 21.
• You have a felony conviction, or a felony withhold of adjudication unless 3 years have passed since you finished probation.
• You had adjudication withheld on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, with the same 3-year rule.
• You have a drug conviction under chapter 893 within the last 3 years.
• You have two or more DUI convictions within the last 3 years.
• You're subject to a current domestic violence or repeat violence injunction.
• You've been committed to a mental institution or adjudicated incapacitated.

Carrying a concealed firearm while ineligible is a third-degree felony. Carrying another concealed weapon, such as a knife covered by the statute, is a first-degree misdemeanor. The State has to prove you were ineligible as part of its case, and that's where many of these charges fall apart. Old withholds and out-of-state cases often aren't what the arrest report says they are. The ladder below shows the maximum jail and fine for each offense level these charges fall under.

The age rule is in flux. Florida's statutes still set 21 as the minimum age for carrying, and a 2018 law bars most gun sales to buyers under 21, but appeals courts have been reviewing age limits on carrying. If you're under 21 and charged, we check where the law stands on the date of your arrest.

Places where carrying a gun is prohibited in Florida

Even an eligible adult with a license can't carry everywhere. Section 790.06(12) lists places where carrying is off limits, including:

• Police stations, jails and courthouses
• Polling places and meetings of a city or county commission or school board
• Elementary and secondary schools, and most college facilities
• The part of a bar or restaurant that is mainly devoted to serving alcohol
• Inside the passenger terminal and sterile area of an airport
• School, college and professional athletic events not related to firearms

Knowingly carrying in one of these places is a second-degree misdemeanor when you're otherwise allowed to carry. Federal buildings follow federal law. Open carry is a separate question: in September 2025, Florida's First District Court of Appeal struck down the state's open carry ban in McDaniels v. State, and the Attorney General told prosecutors to stop enforcing it. The places-prohibited list still applies.

Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Under section 790.23, a person with a felony conviction can't own or possess a firearm, ammunition or an electric weapon. A conviction for that offense is a second-degree felony with up to 15 years in prison. If you actually possessed the gun, section 775.087 adds a 3-year minimum mandatory prison sentence. Felon-in-possession cases can also be charged in federal court, in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.

The exceptions are narrow. The law does not apply if your civil rights and firearm authority have been restored, or if the earlier record was expunged. Many of our felon-in-possession cases involve a gun found in a car or home that several people use. In those cases the State has to prove you knew the gun was there and could exercise control over it, and being close to it isn't enough.

10-20-Life minimum mandatory sentences

Florida's 10-20-Life law, section 775.087, sets minimum prison sentences when a firearm is involved in certain serious felonies, such as robbery, burglary or drug trafficking. Actually possessing a firearm during one of those offenses means at least 10 years. Firing it means at least 20 years. If someone is killed or suffers great bodily harm from the shot, the minimum is 25 years and can go up to life.

These minimums take discretion away from the judge, so the fight happens before a plea or verdict. Doug Greenberg began his career as a state prosecutor, and he knows how the State decides whether to file a 10-20-Life charge, and what evidence can persuade it to drop the firearm allegation.

Improper exhibition and discharging a firearm in public

Showing a gun or other weapon in a rude, careless, angry or threatening way, in front of another person and not in necessary self-defense, is improper exhibition under section 790.10. It is a first-degree misdemeanor. These cases often come out of road rage incidents or neighbor disputes, and they frequently turn on conflicting witness accounts.

Knowingly firing a gun in a public place, on a paved road right-of-way or over occupied property is a first-degree misdemeanor under section 790.15. Firing from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of another person is a second-degree felony. Lawful defense of life or property is an exception to the public discharge offense, and self-defense is often the main issue in shooting cases.