Florida Gun-Free Zones: Where You Can't Carry

What Are “Gun-Free Zones”?

Florida’s gun-free zones are designated locations where possessing firearms and other weapons are prohibited. These areas are intended to provide public safety by limiting the potential for armed conflict or accidental discharge in places where large numbers of people congregate.

Two things have changed. Since July 1, 2023, Fla. Stat. s. 790.01(1)(b) has allowed a person to carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm without a license, provided he or she meets the eligibility criteria in s. 790.06, which include being at least 21 and having no disqualifying record.

Then, on September 10, 2025, the First District Court of Appeal held in McDaniels v. State that Florida's open carry ban in s. 790.053 is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The Attorney General did not appeal and told law enforcement and prosecutors not to enforce it. The text of s. 790.053 is still printed in the statute book, but it is not being enforced against law-abiding adults, so open carry is lawful in Florida today. The location restrictions in s. 790.06(12)(a) were not affected and still apply, to open and concealed carry alike.

Florida’s Gun-Free Zones

The list is in Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a). A private business can also bar firearms on its own property. The sign itself is not a firearms offense in Florida, but the owner can order you to leave, and staying after that warning is trespass under Fla. Stat. s. 810.08 or s. 810.09. Section 790.251 separately protects your right to keep a lawfully possessed firearm locked inside your own vehicle in the parking lot, and s. 790.06(12)(c) preserves that protection.

Government Buildings And Property

Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a) does not close government buildings as a class. It names specific places, and this is the government group:

• Any police, sheriff or highway patrol station, under s. 790.06(12)(a)2.
• Any detention facility, prison or jail, under s. 790.06(12)(a)3.
• Any polling place, under s. 790.06(12)(a)6.
• Any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality or special district, under s. 790.06(12)(a)7.
• Any meeting of the Legislature or a legislative committee, under s. 790.06(12)(a)8.
• Any place where carrying a firearm is prohibited by federal law, under s. 790.06(12)(a)15., which is what covers federal buildings and post offices

Courthouses And Judicial Offices

Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a)4. covers any courthouse and s. 790.06(12)(a)5. covers any courtroom. The courthouse ban has no permission exception at all.

The only carve-out is inside the courtroom provision, and it belongs to the judge: nothing in s. 790.06 stops a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or concealed firearm in his or her own courtroom, or from deciding who else may. No other official can waive the courthouse ban for you, and the statute reaches the courthouse itself rather than the sidewalk outside it.

Airports And Aircraft

Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a)14. bars carrying inside the passenger terminal and the sterile area of any airport. The statute writes its own exception: you may bring a legal firearm into the terminal if it is encased for shipment so that it can be lawfully checked as baggage.

Florida does not register firearms, so there is nothing to register. What matters is that the gun is unloaded, in a locked hard case, declared at the airline counter and checked, under the airline's rules and the TSA's. Federal law separately makes it an offense to carry a firearm past the screening checkpoint or aboard the aircraft, whatever Florida law says.

Bars And Restaurants That Serve Alcohol

Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a)12. bars carrying into any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises which is primarily devoted to that purpose.

The test is the portion of the building, not the business as a whole. A restaurant's dining room is not covered, because it is not primarily devoted to serving alcohol; the bar area of the same restaurant is. Whether anybody at your table happens to be drinking makes no difference to the statute.

Sports Venues And Arenas

Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a)9. bars carrying into any school, college or professional athletic event not related to firearms. It attaches to the event rather than to the building, so an empty arena on a day with no event is not covered by this paragraph.

A high school game, a college tournament and an NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL game are all covered. Venues also set their own conditions of entry, and they enforce those as trespass rather than under s. 790.06.

Schools And Educational Institutions

Two Florida statutes apply here. Fla. Stat. s. 790.06(12)(a)10. and 11. cover any elementary or secondary school facility or administration building and any career center, and s. 790.06(12)(a)13. covers a college or university facility unless you are a registered student, employee or faculty member carrying a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon that does not fire a dart or projectile.

Section 790.115(2) is the heavier one. Possessing a firearm or other weapon at a school-sponsored event or on the property of any school, school bus or school bus stop is a third-degree felony, with narrow exceptions for a firearm carried in a case to a school-approved firearms program, in a case to a career center with a firing range, or kept in a vehicle under s. 790.25(4), which a school district may waive for campus parking privileges.

The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, 18 U.S.C. s. 922(q), reaches 1,000 feet from a public or private school. It exempts a person licensed to carry by the state where the school sits, so a Florida s. 790.06 license keeps you inside the exemption. Carrying without a license under s. 790.01(1)(b) does not.

Schools covered by the Florida provisions include:

• Public and private schools - grades K through 12
• Colleges, universities, and other post-secondary institutions
• Vocational and technical schools
• Daycare centers on school campuses

Consequences Of Violating Florida’s Gun-Free Zone Laws

Knowingly and willfully carrying into a place listed in s. 790.06(12)(a) is a second-degree misdemeanor under s. 790.06(12)(d). That means up to 60 days in jail under Fla. Stat. s. 775.082(4)(b) and a fine of up to $500 under s. 775.083(1)(e). If you hold a s. 790.06 license, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services can also suspend or revoke it.

Carrying a concealed firearm is a third-degree felony in Florida only where you do not meet the s. 790.06 eligibility criteria, under s. 790.01(3). That carries up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Section 790.01(4) puts the burden on the state to prove both that you are unlicensed and that you are ineligible.

A prior felony conviction is a separate problem that has nothing to do with gun-free zones. Under Fla. Stat. s. 790.23(1)(a), a person convicted of a felony in Florida may not own or possess a firearm, ammunition or an electric weapon anywhere. That is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Hire An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Today

If you have been charged under one of these provisions, the case usually turns on exactly where the line around a listed place falls and on what the officer can prove you knew. Weinstein Legal Team has defended Florida firearms charges for decades, including gun law cases of this kind.

Don't wait any longer. Call Weinstein Legal Team today at (888) 626-1108 or contact us online to schedule your FREE consultation. Our team is available to answer your questions, address your concerns, and help you protect your Second Amendment rights.