From: [bb 063] at [cleveland.Freenet.Edu] (Christopher J. Crobaugh) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: Fla Law Date: 8 Jun 1994 10:42:38 GMT Here's the text of the Florida law as of 1991 - that's the date on it on the NRA bulletin board. This SHOULD be current. I would not make any momentous decisions until I had checked, though, to see what the most current revision is. Any reasonably well equipped law library will normally have Florida code, since so many folks from other states go to Florida during the winter. FLORIDA (As of November 1991 ) 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 Federal 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, or by consulting the State Laws and Published Ordinances—Firearms (Treasury Dept. ), 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 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 or nuisance." It is unlawful to sell, give, or lend 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. 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.l $8 of the Constitution. The Department of Law Enforcement shall destroy records of approval and nonapproval within 48 hours after its response. The fee for the in stant check shall be $10 for the first full year and $3 thereafter. Exempt from the instant check are licensed dealers, manufacturers, importers, collectors, and persons for whom the purchase or transfer is made "for official law-enforcement purposes." 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 modem 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 secure/y 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 $125, and renewal fee is not to exceed $100. Costs for processing the fingerprints shall be borne by the applicant. Fingerprinting must be conducted by a law*enforcement agency of the state. The sherriff's office shall provide fingerprinting 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 Florida for at least 6 months; 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; (9) 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 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 gun by a child under the age of 16 is prohibited unless the child is under the supervision and in the presence of an adult. Florida has a three-year mandatory sentence for any serious felony committed with a firearm. 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. It is a felony to "wantonly or maliciously shoot at, within, or into," any "building, occupied or unoccupied," or any bus, train or vehicle which is being used or occupied by any person, or any boat or vessel "lying in or plying the waters of this state or aircraft flying through the air." 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 allowed by an extraordinary vote of the county commission to enact an ordinance requiring retail establishments to delay the delivery of a handgun up to 48 hours 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 to possess such armor-piercing or exploding bullet with knowledge of its armor-piercing or exploding capabilities loaded in a handgun. It is unlawful to leave a loaded firearm within reach or easy access of a person under 16, if the minor obta ins the firearm and uses it to inflict injury or death upon himself or any other person or unlawfully possesses or exhibits it in public or in a careless or threatening manner. 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 transferors. *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 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. -- [bb 063] at [Cleveland.Freenet.Edu] Chris Crobaugh - (216) 327-6655 (V) "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin