What Is The New Gun Law In Florida

Florida's 2023 Gun Law Overhaul: What You Actually Need To Know

SB 7026 passed in 2023 and fundamentally changed how firearms are sold and registered in the state. If you've tried buying a handgun recently, you probably noticed things feel different. They are. Here's the practical breakdown of what changed and what it means if you're actually dealing with the law instead of reading about it. The core changes revolve around three things: age restrictions, waiting periods, and training requirements. The purchase age went from 18 to 21 for handguns. Long guns stay at 18, but handguns now require you to be 21. A mandatory 3-day waiting period applies to every firearm purchase, including private sales. There's also a new requirement to complete a firearms safety course before you can buy or possess a handgun, unless you qualify for an exemption. Active duty military, veterans with honorable discharge, and law enforcement officers are exempt from the training requirement. That last point matters more than most people realize. I ran into a situation last year where a customer showed up with a valid concealed carry license from another state, thinking it would cover him under Florida's rules. It doesn't. Florida's new training requirement applies regardless of out-of-state licenses. The workaround was having him complete the basic 8-hour Florida-approved course online and then present the certificate at the gun store. Took about 45 minutes total once he found the right provider. Wildly inconvenient for him, but that's the law as written.

The law also expanded the Extreme Risk Protection Order process, commonly called the red flag law. Families or law enforcement can petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from someone deemed a danger to themselves or others. This isn't new, but the 2023 updates clarified the procedure and made it easier for first responders to initiate proceedings without needing a full criminal investigation first. The timeline from petition to emergency order can be as fast as 24 hours if the judge finds imminent danger.

Bump Stocks And Amplifier Frames

Bump stocks are explicitly banned. If you have one, you cannot sell it, transfer it, or possess it in Florida. The same goes for amplifier frames and bump stock conversion devices. These items fall under the federal National Firearms Act category, and Florida tightened its language to make sure there's no ambiguity about ownership or transfer. I've seen a few people accidentally run afoul of this when trying to sell parts online without realizing the receiver modification itself is now illegal to own. Check your parts bin. If it has an amplifier or bump stock component, it needs to go. The 8-hour course covers safe storage, legal responsibilities, marksmanship basics, and state-specific firearm laws. It can be done online, which is the main reason most people complain about it. Some instructors try to cut corners by offering shorter versions that claim to be equivalent. They're not. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services maintains a list of approved providers. Anything outside that list doesn't count, and gun stores know it. Showing up with a certificate from an unapproved source just wastes everyone's time. One counter-intuitive thing about the training requirement: it does not give you a concealed carry license. These are two separate things. The training lets you buy and possess a handgun. The licensing process is entirely different and requires a background check, fingerprints, and a separate application. People consistently confuse the two and show up at the range expecting a license after completing the course. It doesn't work that way.

Registration And Tracking

Florida now requires registration of all firearms sales through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which wasn't strictly enforced before the law change. Private sales must go through a licensed dealer who runs the background check. This is a big shift from the old system where private party transfers between Florida residents were largely unmonitored. You can't skip the dealer even if you're selling to a friend. The paperwork has to go through a Federal Firearms License holder. The registration data itself is kept by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and there are strict rules about who can access it. Law enforcement can request records with proper justification, but members of the public cannot pull someone else's firearm registration. This is one area where the law is pretty clear-cut compared to states that leave registration databases wide open.

Potential Issues And Where The Law Falls Short

The biggest practical problem with the new law is the waiting period interacting with out-of-state purchases. If you're buying from a dealer in Georgia or Alabama and shipping to Florida, the 3-day clock starts when the firearm arrives at the Florida FFL, not when you place the order. That means planning ahead if you're ordering a specific gun. You can't just wait until the last minute and expect same-week pickup. I've had buyers get frustrated when their firearm sat at a shop for three days because they didn't account for the waiting period. It adds friction to the process, but it's the intended effect of the legislation. Another issue is the training requirement creating a bottleneck for some populations. Rural residents without reliable internet struggle with the online-only course option, and in-person classes aren't available everywhere. The law technically allows for in-person training through approved instructors, but finding one can take effort depending on where you live. This isn't a gap in the law itself, just a gap in access, and it's something to factor in before assuming you can complete everything on a weekend. If you need a current list of approved training providers or want to verify the exact text of the statute, the Florida DHSMV website and the Florida Legislature's session law archive are the most reliable sources. Gun stores should also have updated materials, though I'd cross-reference anything they give you since some dealers haven't fully caught up to every nuance of the law yet.