Legislative Update: HB 543 and Changes to Concealed Carry Laws

Governor DeSantis signed CS/HB 543: Public Safety, which makes significant changes to Florida law on carrying concealed weapons and firearms.

The bill amends § 790.01, Florida Statutes, the criminal statute regulating the carry of concealed weapons and firearms. The amendments will allow people to lawfully carry concealed weapons and firearms without first obtaining a license, as is currently required. Under the new law, any person who would qualify for a concealed weapons permit (according to the criteria in § 790.06) can carry one, without going through the steps to obtain a license.

To qualify, a person must: be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States and at least twenty-one (21) years old; be free of physical infirmities which would render them physically unable to handle a firearm safely; not have ineligible criminal history (including certain felony, drug, or domestic violence records); not be a chronic drug user; and must not have an active domestic violence or repeat violence injunction against them.  The bill also amends § 790.015 to allow non-Florida residents to benefit from the same law, and clarifies that § 790.06(12) - which list all of the places where concealed weapons are prohibited-still applies.

Essentially, the law eliminates the extra steps generally required, including an application fee and firearm safety course, to exercising the privilege of carrying a concealed weapons. (The law does not require that a person carrying a concealed firearm complete the firearm safety courses required for obtaining a concealed firearm permit.). Although a person will not need to show proof of a carrying concealed weapons permit to law enforcement, the bills adds § 790.013, which requires that a person without a concealed carry license to carry valid identification and to provide it to law enforcement upon request. 

Failure to comply with the identification requirement can result in a civil penalty with a $25 fine; the criminal penalties for violating the laws on concealed carry are unchanged -a third-degree felony for firearms and a first-degree misdemeanor for other weapons.

While it is certainly a safer bet to obtain a concealed carry permit if you intend to carry, the amended law makes it the State’s burden to establish that a person did not qualify to carry a concealed firearm in a prosecution under § 790.01, instead of creating an affirmative defense).

The new law is effective beginning July 1, 2023.