FL: State Firearms Laws

FLORIDA
(As of August, 1995)

PLEASE NOTE: In addition to state laws, the purchase, sale
and (in certain circumstances) the possession and interstate
transportation of firearms is regulated by the Gun Control
Act of 1968 as amended by the Firearms Owners' Protection
Act. Also, cities and localities may have their own firearms
ordinances in addition to federal and state laws. Details
may be obtained by contacting local law enforcement
authorities, and by consulting the State Laws and Published
Ordinances_Firearms, available from the U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. 


QUICK REFERENCE CHART

                         Rifles and
                         Shotguns       Handguns
Permit to Purchase       NO             NO
Registration of Firearms NO             NO
Licensing of Owner       NO             NO
Permit to Carry          NO             YES

STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION

"(a) The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of
themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be
infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be
regulated by law. (b) There shall be a mandatory period of three
days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, between the purchase
and delivery at retail of any handgun. For the purposes of this
section, "purchase" means the transfer of money or other valuable
consideration to the retailer, and "handgun" means a firearm
capable of being carried and used by one hand, such as a pistol
or revolver. Holders of a concealed weapon permit as prescribed
in Florida law shall not be subject to the provisions of this
paragraph. (c) The legislature shall enact legislation
implementing subsection (b) of this section, effective no later
than December 31, 1991, which shall provide that anyone violating
the provisions of subsection (b) shall be guilty of a felony. (d)
This restriction shall not apply to a trade in of another
handgun." Article 1, Section 8.

     The legislature of the State of Florida, in a declaration of
policy incorporated in its 'Weapons and Firearms" Statute,
recognizes the lawful ownership, possession and use of firearms
for the defense of "life, home and property" and for use in
target practice, hunting and "other lawful purposes."

POSSESSION AND PURCHASE

     No state permit is required to possess or purchase a rifle
shotgun, or handgun.
     It is unlawful for any convicted felon to own, possess or
control any firearm including a tear gas gun or chemical weapon
or device  unless his civil rights have been restored.
     It is unlawful for the following persons to own, possess or
use any firearm: drug addicts, alcoholics, mental incompetents,
"vagrants" and "undesirables" and "persons in or about a place of
nuisance."
     It is unlawful to sell, give, lend or transfer a pistol or
other arm or weapon "other than an ordinary pocketknife" to a
minor under the age of 18 without his parent's permission, or to
any person of unsound mind.
     It is unlawful for any dealer to sell any "pistol,
Springfield rifle or other repeating rifle" to a minor.
     A minor under 18 years of age may not possess a firearm,
other than an unloaded firearm at his home, unless engaged in
lawful activities.
     No licensed gun dealer, manufacturer or importer shall sell
or deliver "any firearm to another person" until he has obtained
a completed form from the potential buyer or transferee and
received approval from the Department of Law Enforcement by means
of a toll-free telephone call. There is a 3-day delay before
delivery unless exempted under Art. 1 Section 8 of the
Constitution. The Department of Law Enforcement shall destroy
records of approval and non approval within 48 hours after its
response. The fee for the instant check shall be $8.00. Exempt
from the instant check are licensed dealers, manufacturers,
importers, collectors, persons with a concealed carrying license,
law enforcement, correctional, and correctional probation
officers.

CARRYING

     Unless covered under the exceptions, it is unlawful to
openly carry on or about the person any firearm, or to "carry a
concealed firearm on or about the person" without a license.

     Exceptions:
1.   Persons having firearms at their home or place of business.
2.   "Regularly enrolled members of any organization duly
authorized to purchase or receive weapons from the United States
or from this state, or regularly enrolled members of clubs
organized for target, skeet, or trapshooting, while at, or going
to or from shooting practice."
3.   Members of clubs organized for collecting antique or modern
firearms while at or going to or from exhibitions.
4.   Persons engaged in fishing, camping or hunting and while
going to or from such activity.
5.   Persons engaged in target shooting "under safe conditions
and in a safe place" or while going to or from such place.
6.   Persons who are firing weapons for target practice in "a
safe and secure indoor range."
7.   Persons traveling by private conveyance if the weapon is
securely encased, or in a public conveyance if the weapon is
securely encased and not in person's manual possession.
8.   Persons carrying a pistol unloaded and in a wrapper from
place of purchase to their home or to a place of repair and back.
9.   Persons engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing
or dealing in firearms.
10.  Military, law enforcement personnel and private guards while
so employed.
11.  It is lawful to possess a concealed firearm for self defense
or other lawful purposes within the interior of a private
conveyance, without a license, if the firearm is securely encased
or is otherwise not readily accessible for Immediate use. Nothing
herein contained prohibits the carrying of a firearm other than a
handgun anywhere in a private conveyance when such firearm is
being carried for a lawful use. The exemption shall not authorize
the carrying of a firearm concealed on the person.

     Securely encased is defined as encased in a glove
compartment, whether or not locked; in a snapped holster; in a
gun case, whether or not locked; in a zippered gun case; or in a
closed box or container which requires a lid or cover to be
opened for access. Readily accessible for immediate use means
that a firearm or other weapon is carried on the person or within
such close proximity and in such a manner that it can be
retrieved and used as easily and quickly as if carried on the
person.
     Application for a license to carry a handgun concealed is
made to the Department of State. The license is valid for 3 years
throughout the state. The application shall be completed, under
oath, on a form promulgated by the Department of State and shall
include the applicant's name, address, place and date of birth,
race, and occupation. The license fee is not to exceed $85, and
renewal fee is not to exceed $70.  (Actual fees are $75 and $60
respectively.) Costs for processing the fingerprints shall be
borne by the applicant. Fingerprinting must be conducted by a law
enforcement agency of the state. The sheriff's office shall
provide finger printing service at no charge to the applicant.
     The Department of State shall issue a license if the
applicant (a) is at least 21 and a resident of the United States;
(b) does not suffer from a physical infirmity which prevents the
safe handling of a firearm; (c) is not a convicted felon; (d) has
not within a 3 year period preceding submission of the
application been convicted of a crime of violence or committed
for drug abuse or been convicted of a minor drug offense; (e) has
not been adjudicated an incapacitated person, unless he has
waited 5 years from the date of his court-ordered restoration to
capacity, or been committed to a mental institution, unless he
possesses a psychiatrist's certificate that he has not suffered
from the disability for five years; (f) is not a chronic or
habitual drunkard; (g) demonstrates competence with a firearm by
showing proof of completion of a state hunter safety course, or
any NRA firearms safety or training course, completion of any
firearms safety or training course or class available to the
general public offered by the police or by instructors certified
by NRA, Department of State, or Criminal Justice Standards and
Training Commission at a public or private school, completion of
firearms safety or training course offered for security guards,
investigators, or special deputies, completion of any firearm
training or safety course or class conducted by a state or NRA
certified firearms instructor, presents evidence of equivalent
experience with a firearm through participation in organized
shooting competition or military service, or is licensed or has
been licensed to carry a firearm in Florida or in its counties
and towns; and (h) states that he "desires a legal means to carry
a concealed weapon or firearm for lawful self-defense."
     A license shall not authorize any person to carry a
concealed weapon or firearm into any place of nuisance, police
station, detention facility, courthouse, polling place, meeting
of any state, county, municipal, or special district governing
body, any school, any professional or school athletic event not
related to firearms, portion of an establishment licensed to
dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises,
inside the sterile and passenger area of an airport, or any place
where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.
     The Department of State must be notified within 30 days of
changing a permanent address or losing a license. A duplicate
license costs $15.00. A person must carry his license together
with valid identification, such as a driver's license.
     The licensing law "shall be liberally construed to carry out
the Constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense."

ANTIQUES AND REPLICAS

     Unless used in the commission of a crime, the term "firearm"
shall not include an antique firearm. "Antique firearm" means any
firearm manufactured in or before 1918 (including any matchlock,
flintlock, percussion cap, or similar early type of ignition
system) or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before
or after the year 1918, and also any firearm using fixed
ammunition manufactured in or before 1918, for which ammunition
is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily
available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.

MACHINE GUNS

     The possession of a machine gun, defined as "any firearm
which shoots or is designed to shoot, automatically or
semiautomatically, more than one shot without manually reloading,
by a single function of the trigger" is prohibited unless
lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law.

MISCELLANEOUS

     Use of a firearm, BB gun, air or gas-operated guns or
electric weapons or devices by a minor under age 16 is prohibited
unless the minor is under the supervision and in the presence of
an adult who is acting with the consent of the minor's parent.

     Florida has a three-year mandatory sentence for any serious
felony committed with a firearm.*  The penalty is 8 years if a
machine gun or a semiautomatic firearm with magazine capacity of
more than 20 centerfire cartridges is possessed during a serious
felony or narcotics offense.

     It is unlawful to knowingly discharge a firearm in "any
public place, or on the right of way of any paved public road,
highway or street" or over any road, highway, street or occupied
building, except in defense of life or property, in performance
of official duties or where expressly approved for hunting.

     Except during the hunting season as established by law, it
is unlawful to carry a firearm within the limits of a national
forest area. Exempt are persons who have obtained a special
permit by the county commissioners or persons traveling on state
roads when the firearm is "securely locked within a vehicle."

     It is unlawful to have or carry a firearm in the presence of
one or more persons and exhibit the firearm "in a rude, careless,
angry, or threatening manner, not in necessary self defense."

     The state legislature has preempted the regulation of
firearms and ammunition. However, a county is to enact an
ordinance requiring retail establishments to delay the delivery
of a handgun up to 3 working days after its purchase. 

     Reporting or notification shall not be required, but such
records of handgun sales must be available for inspection during
normal business hours. Exempt from a county purchase delay
ordinance are law enforcement and correctional officers, holders
of license to carry a firearm concealed, persons who prove
ownership of another firearm or have a firearm for trade in,
persons who have reported to the police threats of death or great
bodily harm, and federally licensed firearm dealers or
distributors when dealing with each other.

     It is unlawful to sell, deliver, or use to assist in the
commission of a crime any bullet which has a steel inner core or
core of equivalent hardness and truncated cone and which is
designed for use in a handgun as an armor-piercing bullet or any
exploding bullet, or dragon's breath shotgun shell, bolo shell,
or flechette shell, or to possess such armor-piercing or
exploding bullet with knowledge of its armor-piercing or
exploding capabilities loaded in a handgun, or dragon's breath,
bolo, or flechette shell with knowledge of its capabilities
loaded in a firearm.

     It is unlawful to store or leave a firearm in any place
within reach or easy access of a person under 18 years of age.
This provision does not apply to:
     A)   A firearm stored in a securely locked box or container,
or in a location which a reasonable person would have believed to
be secure, or securely locked with a trigger lock;
     B)   If a minor obtains a firearm by means of unlawful
entry, by any person;
     C)   Injuries that result from target or sport shooting
accidents or hunting accidents, or
     D)   To members of the armed forces, national guard, state
militia, police or other law enforcement officers where
possession by a minor occurs during or incidental to performance
of official duties.

     Appropriate warning with regard to this provision of law
must be posted and delivered by commercial wholesale or retail
firearm sellers or transferrers.

* A serious felony is one that entails a "high risk of death or
harm," such as: murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, or
robbery.

CITATION: Florida Statutes relating to firearms are: Chapter 790
Secs.: 001-.31. and Chapter 784, Section .05.


CAUTION: State firearms laws are subject to frequent change.
The above summary is not to be considered as legal advice or
a restatement of law. To determine the applicability of
these laws to specific situations which you may encounter,
you are strongly urged to consult a local attorney.

Compiled by:
NRA Institute for Legislative Action
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, Virginia  22030
1995, NRA Institute for Legislative Action

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