Florida firearm law has several topics that don't fit neatly into the canonical permit, carry, and use-of-force sections. This catalog covers magazine...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Florida firearm law has several topics that don't fit neatly into the canonical permit, carry, and use-of-force sections. This catalog covers magazine capacity (no state limit), body armor, knives under the § 790.001(13) "weapon" definition, the federal pistol-brace rule, suppressors and other NFA items, antique firearms, lost-and-stolen reporting (no mandate), estate inheritance, the narrow college stun-gun carve-out at § 790.06(12)(a)13, the religious-property carry rule at § 790.06(13), the Federally Protected Persons rule, and the § 790.01(5) hurricane-evacuation carve-out. Each topic gives the bottom-line answer first, then the statute, then the nuance.
Florida does not impose any magazine capacity limit. Standard-capacity and high-capacity magazines are lawful to own, possess, transport, and use anywhere in the state. Chapter 790 of the Florida Statutes contains no capacity-based restriction, and "magazine" appears in Chapter 790 only in incidental, definitional contexts. The Chapter 790 prohibited-weapons framework focuses on machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors (subject to the federal NFA exception), armor-piercing ammunition, and similar categorical items, but contains no magazine-capacity item.
This matters operationally because several states impose hard capacity caps (California, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, and others). A Florida CWFL holder who travels with a 17-round factory Glock 17 magazine, a 30-round AR-pattern magazine, or a 33-round PMAG is lawful in Florida without qualification. Cross a state line into a capacity-limit jurisdiction and the federal Firearm Owners Protection Act safe-harbor at 18 U.S.C. § 926A may protect transport (unloaded, locked, separate from ammunition, in a vehicle making an otherwise-lawful trip), but it does not protect possession at the destination. Florida's preemption statute further blocks any city, county, or special-purpose district from adopting a magazine-capacity ordinance, so there is no Florida jurisdiction in which a different rule applies.
For instructors: the answer is whatever fits and whatever the firearm will accept. There is no ceiling.
Body armor is generally lawful for civilian purchase, possession, and use in Florida. There is no Florida CWFL or registration requirement to own body armor, and no general state-law prohibition on wearing it in public.
The narrow Florida exception sits at Fla. Stat. § 775.0846, which makes it a third-degree felony for any person to wear or possess a "bulletproof vest" while committing or attempting to commit one of the enumerated predicate offenses: murder, sexual battery, robbery, burglary, arson, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping, escape, breaking and entering with felony intent, a criminal gang-related offense under chapter 874, a controlled substance offense under chapter 893, or aircraft piracy. The § 775.0846 violation is a separate offense layered on top of the predicate. The statute defines "bulletproof vest" by performance: a body covering of at least seven layers of bullet-resistant material providing protection from three shots of 158-grain lead ammunition fired from a .38 caliber handgun at 850 feet per second (the "threat level I" floor).
The federal layer is parallel. Under 18 U.S.C. § 931, a person convicted of a federal or state "crime of violence" felony is barred from purchasing, owning, or possessing body armor, with a narrow employment-related affirmative defense. Florida's general felon-in-possession framework at Fla. Stat. § 790.23 covers firearms, electric weapons, and ammunition, but does not separately prohibit a felon from possessing body armor outside the § 775.0846 commission-of-felony context.
For non-prohibited civilians, soft Level IIIA carriers and Level III/IV rifle plates are lawful to buy, own, wear, and store. § 775.0846 is triggered by use during a predicate felony, not by ownership.
Florida knife law runs through Chapter 790's definitions rather than a standalone knife statute. Under Fla. Stat. § 790.001, "weapon" is defined to mean "any dirk, knife, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical weapon or device, or other deadly weapon except a firearm or a common pocketknife, plastic knife, or blunt-bladed table knife." The "concealed weapon" definition at § 790.001 then runs the same listing for purposes of the carry-without-license offense at § 790.01.
Three operational consequences follow. First, a "common pocketknife" is expressly carved out of the "weapon" definition. Florida case law (most notably L.B. v. State, 700 So. 2d 370 (Fla. 1997)) treats a folding knife with a blade of approximately four inches or less as a common pocketknife as a matter of law in most circumstances; the Attorney General opinion 89-61 used a similar yardstick. Carrying a common pocketknife concealed is not a § 790.01 offense.
Second, a "dirk" or other fixed-blade fighting knife is a "weapon" under § 790.001(13). Carrying such a knife concealed without a CWFL is a second-degree misdemeanor under § 790.01. A CWFL covers concealed firearms and concealed weapons, so a CWFL holder may carry a dirk concealed wherever a concealed handgun would be lawful.
Third, knife open-carry is governed by the Chapter 790 weapon framework rather than a knife-specific rule. An openly carried sheath knife is generally lawful where openly carried weapons are lawful; the categorical place restrictions at § 790.06(12) and § 790.115 apply to "weapons" by reference and therefore reach knives.
For instructors: a four-inch folder is the safest pocket-carry item statewide; anything longer or fixed-blade is a "weapon" requiring CWFL coverage to carry concealed.
Florida has no state-law rule on pistol braces. The state's "short-barreled rifle" framework tracks the federal NFA definition by reference, which means whatever the federal rule says about braced pistols controls in Florida.
The federal status is currently disputed. ATF Final Rule 2021R-08F, "Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached 'Stabilizing Braces,'" 88 Fed. Reg. 6478 (Jan. 31, 2023), declared that most braced pistols meet the NFA definition of a short-barreled rifle, requiring registration and a $200 making tax. Subsequent federal litigation has produced injunctions, vacaturs, and stays, and the legal posture continues to evolve through the courts.
For Florida residents, the practical guidance is conservative: Florida has no state-level pistol-brace rule, but the federal rule and the federal litigation control. An owner of a braced pistol should track the current status of the rule, the scope of any nationwide injunction, and any open ATF amnesty registration window before relying on a particular configuration. A Florida CWFL class is not the place to give definitive federal-rule advice; it is the place to flag that the rule is federal, that it is disputed, and that the student needs current counsel before building or modifying.
Suppressors are lawful in Florida for civilians who comply with the federal National Firearms Act process. The same rule applies to short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, and any other weapon (AOW) properly registered with ATF.
The federal NFA at 26 U.S.C. ch. 53 and ATF regulations at 27 C.F.R. § 479.11 are the entire process for civilians: select the suppressor from a licensed dealer, submit a Form 4 transfer application (or Form 1 to manufacture) with fingerprints, photographs, and the $200 transfer or making tax, wait for ATF approval, then take possession on the tax stamp. There is no separate Florida state permit, registration, or fee for a suppressor. NFA trusts are lawful in Florida and are commonly used for shared possession and estate planning. Florida hunting regulations permit suppressor use for taking game where the underlying hunting license and method-of-take rules are otherwise satisfied.
For machine guns, the federal Hughes Amendment limits civilian-transferable machine guns to those registered before May 19, 1986, and the same NFA process applies. For SBRs and SBSs, the procedure mirrors the suppressor process. The Florida prohibited-weapons framework defers to the federal NFA registration; an item registered on a current ATF tax stamp is not a Chapter 790 contraband item.
Antique firearms occupy a separate space under federal law that flows through into Florida practice. Under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(16), an "antique firearm" is any firearm manufactured in or before 1898, or any replica of such a firearm not designed to use rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or a muzzleloading rifle, shotgun, or pistol designed to use black powder or a black-powder substitute and not capable of using fixed ammunition. Antique firearms are excluded from the federal definition of "firearm" at 27 C.F.R. § 478.11, which means they are not subject to FFL transfer requirements, Form 4473, or NICS background checks at retail.
Florida does not impose a separate antique-firearm regime. Pre-1899 cap-and-ball revolvers, flintlock long rifles, and similar antiques sit outside the FFL/NICS apparatus for transfer and are generally treated under Florida's "weapon" framework rather than the firearm-specific provisions of Chapter 790. The federal felon-in-possession bar at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) is keyed to "firearm" and therefore does not reach antiques as defined; Florida's § 790.23 felon-in-possession statute does reach "firearms" and "ammunition" as defined in § 790.001 and may reach a black-powder revolver depending on configuration. A Florida resident with a felony conviction should not assume the antique carve-out resolves their state-law disability without specific legal advice.
For estate, gift, and private-sale purposes, antiques can be transferred without an FFL or background check. Common-sense limits apply: do not assume an antique reproduction with modern centerfire chambering falls within the carve-out.
Florida does not impose a statutory duty to report a lost or stolen firearm to law enforcement. There is no Chapter 790 provision that makes failure to report a missing firearm a separate offense. Florida sheriff's offices and local police departments uniformly accept lost-and-stolen reports and recommend filing them, but the recommendation is operational, not statutory.
The practical reasons to file anyway are substantial. A timely lost-and-stolen report with serial number, make, model, and date creates the record that protects the original owner if the firearm is later recovered at a crime scene or used in an offense. NCIC entry by the receiving agency creates a national hit at any future law-enforcement contact. The report is also evidence of due diligence in any later civil claim or insurance recovery.
The 2022 federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act expanded the federal straw-purchase statute (now 18 U.S.C. § 932) but did not create a federal lost-or-stolen reporting mandate for private owners. The FFL-side reporting obligation under 18 U.S.C. § 923(g)(6) (dealers must report theft within 48 hours) is unchanged and applies only to FFLs, not private owners.
Instructor takeaway: there is no Florida state mandate to report. There are good reasons to do it anyway, and a student's choice to file or not is not a state-law violation either way.
Inheriting a non-NFA firearm in Florida involves no special state-law process. The personal representative of the estate distributes the firearm to the named beneficiary or to the heir under the Florida Probate Code, and the receiving heir must be eligible to possess under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and Fla. Stat. § 790.23. There is no Florida-specific transfer paperwork, no FFL requirement, and no background check between estate and beneficiary.
NFA items (suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, AOWs, destructive devices) are governed by federal law. The transfer mechanism on death is ATF Form 5, "Application for Tax-Exempt Transfer and Registration of Firearm" (per 27 C.F.R. § 479.90 and ATF guidance). Form 5 transfers an NFA item from the estate of a deceased registered owner to a lawful heir tax-free, but the heir must still be a person not prohibited under federal law and must complete the ATF approval process before taking possession. The executor's lawful possession during probate is recognized under federal law, but actual transfer to the heir requires Form 5 approval.
NFA trusts simplify this substantially. If the deceased's NFA items were registered to a properly drafted gun trust with successor trustees and beneficiaries identified in the trust instrument, the items remain in the trust on death without a Form 5 transfer; control passes through trust succession instead. For Florida residents with multiple NFA items or a planned estate, the trust route generally produces a smoother transition than the personal-registration route.
College and university facilities sit on the § 790.06(12) prohibited-place list, but with a narrow carve-out that no other Florida prohibited-place item shares. Under Fla. Stat. § 790.06(12)(a)13., a CWFL holder may not carry into "any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile."
Three conditions must all be satisfied. First, the carrier must be a registered student, employee, or faculty member of the specific college or university. A CWFL holder visiting another institution does not qualify. Second, the device must be a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon designed solely for defensive purposes. A direct-contact stun device qualifies; a TASER-style projectile-firing electronic control device does not. Third, the device cannot fire a dart or projectile, which excludes most TASER-brand consumer products.
The § 790.115 school-property statute uses a broader "school" definition that includes postsecondary schools and does not contain a comparable stun-gun carve-out for primary or secondary schools. The § 790.06(12)(a)13. exception is a one-place carve-out for college and university facilities only, and it does not extend the right to a concealed firearm - only to a non-projectile defensive electric device.
Florida resolved the church-carry question by statute. Under Fla. Stat. § 790.06(13), "a person licensed under this section may carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm on property owned, rented, leased, borrowed, or lawfully used by a church, synagogue, or other religious institution." The same subsection preserves the religious institution's private-property rights: the rule "does not limit the private property rights of a church, synagogue, or other religious institution to exercise control over property."
The operational effect is twofold. A CWFL holder may carry on religious-institution property by default - the prior question of whether a church could authorize CCW on premises also serving a school or daycare is largely resolved in favor of CCW for the religious activity itself. And a religious institution remains free to post notice or otherwise restrict carry on its property; the § 790.06(13) right does not override the property owner's choice to exclude.
For instructors: the default under § 790.06(13) is "yes, with a CWFL"; the exception is a posted or otherwise communicated property-owner restriction.
Florida CWFL holders are subject to federal laws that prohibit firearms in particular places or near particular persons regardless of state license. Two federal frameworks come up most often.
First, 18 U.S.C. § 1751 and 18 U.S.C. § 879 create federal offenses for assaulting, kidnapping, threatening, or attempting to do so against the President, Vice President, members of Congress, Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, certain other federal officials, and protected family members, including offenses keyed to the use of a firearm. The Secret Service may establish protective zones around protected persons; firearms within those zones are unlawful regardless of state CCW status. A CWFL holder who finds themselves within a Secret Service protective perimeter (campaign event, official visit) must comply with the federal directive even if the venue would otherwise be a § 790.06-permissible carry location.
Second, Fla. Stat. § 790.06(12)(a)15. closes the loop with a state-law catch-all: a CWFL holder may not carry into "any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law." Federal courthouses, post offices, military installations, federal facilities posted under 18 U.S.C. § 930, TSA-secured airport areas, and federally protected persons' protective zones are all reached through this catch-all. A § 790.06(12)(a)15. violation is a state-law offense in addition to the federal exposure.
For instructors: the federal layer is independent of the Florida CWFL. Carrying lawfully under § 790.06 does not authorize carry into a federal-law prohibition zone, and § 790.06(12)(a)15. converts the federal prohibition into a state-law misdemeanor on top of the federal exposure.
Florida's licensing-required carry offense at § 790.01 contains a state-of-emergency carve-out that students should know about because Florida runs hurricane evacuations on a regular basis. Under Fla. Stat. § 790.01(5)(a), a person does not violate the carry-without-license offense if the person "is lawfully in possession of a concealed weapon or a concealed firearm . . . and carries such concealed weapon or concealed firearm on or about his or her person while in the act of evacuating during a mandatory evacuation order issued during a state of emergency declared by the Governor pursuant to chapter 252 or declared by a local authority pursuant to chapter 870."
The statute defines "in the act of evacuating" narrowly: the immediate and urgent movement of a person away from the evacuation zone within 48 hours after a mandatory evacuation is ordered. The 48-hour window may be extended by an order issued by the Governor, but otherwise the carve-out is a tight evacuation-only window, not a general emergency-period suspension of the licensing requirement.
The carve-out applies to the § 790.01 unlicensed-carry offense; it does not waive the § 790.06(12) prohibited-place list or the federal-law catch-all at § 790.06(12)(a)15. A non-CWFL evacuee carrying a concealed handgun under § 790.01(5)(a) cannot use the evacuation carve-out to enter a courthouse, a school, or a federal facility en route to safety. The carve-out also does not authorize open carry, which Florida regulates separately.
Florida's broader Constitutional Carry framework, in effect since July 1, 2023, provides a year-round permitless concealed-carry option for Florida residents who would qualify for a CWFL. The § 790.01(5)(a) evacuation rule predates that framework and remains in the statute books. For an out-of-state resident in Florida during an evacuation, the § 790.01(5)(a) carve-out is the operative protection during the 48-hour window.
For instructors: Florida law provides a narrow but real shield against an unlicensed-carry charge during an active mandatory evacuation. Students should plan their hurricane go-bags with the 48-hour window in mind.
This page covers one part of our Florida concealed carry guide.
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