Florida

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Florida

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to Florida. It supports research on the state’s firearms history, technology, law, policy, and culture from the Spanish and British colonial periods through territorial years, statehood, and the present.

Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, military and maritime records, and oral histories tied to Florida people and places.
Research outputs: technical reports, academic studies, training manuals, and curated datasets relevant to the state.

Cite the Firearms Research Center and the item’s handle/DOI when using materials. Rights and licensing vary by item.

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Now showing 1 - 29 of 29

Compilation of the Ordinances of the City of St. Augustine 53 (1884)
(1878-04-28)
Imposed a $25 license tax on dealers of pistols, bowie-knives, and dirks.
1931 Fla. Laws 2069
(1931)
§ 7: Granted the Village the authority to license, tax, regulate, and prohibit explosives, guns, pistol, and other weapons.
1921 Fla. Laws 307
(1921)
An Act to Protect the Birds and Wild Life of the County of Orange and State of Florida and to Prevent the Hunting of Same During the Closed Season, ch. 8781, § 2: Prohibited anyone carrying a gun in the woods, field, or on the water such as those generally used for hunting game or having a gun during the closed season. Violators subject to arrest, fine, and imprisonment.
1899 Fla. Laws 280
(1899)
§ 33: Granted the city council the authority to regulate the storage of gun powder, tar, pitch, resin, saltpeter, gun-cotton, coal oil, and all other combustibles, explosives, and inflammable materials. Also the use of lights, candles, lamps, and steam pipes in all stables, shops, and other places.
1887 Fla. Laws 164-65
(1887)
An Act to Establish the Municipality of Jacksonville Provide for its Government and Prescribe it's jurisdiction and powers, chap. 3775, § 4: Granted the city of Jacksonville the authority to regulate and license the sale of firearms and suppress the carrying of concealed weapons.
1911 Fla. Laws 268-69
(1911)
An Act Regulating the Manner of Catching Fish in the Fresh Water Lakes and Streams of Leon County, and Providing Punishment for Violations of this Act, ch. 6283, § 1: Prohibited fishing in the freshwater lakes and steams of Leon county with any seine, net, basket, trap, gun speer or gig. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor.
1927 Fla. Laws 211-12
(1927)
Granted the city council the authority to prohibit and regulate the carrying of dirks, metal knuckles, or other dangerous weapons which are not firearms
1923 Fla. Laws 431-32
(1923)
An Act for the Protection of Person Who Use Shot-guns in the Pursuit of Game and for Sport . . ., ch. 9340, § 1: Prohibited the sale of any shot gun shells, divested of their interstate character, which do not plainly print on the box the character, quality, and quantity of powder contained in such shells.
1933 Fla. Laws 623
(1933)
An Act to Prevent Throwing of Bombs and the Discharge of Machine Guns Upon, or Across Any Public Road in the State of Florida . . ., ch. 16111, § 1: Prohibited throwing a bomb or shooting a machine gun across or along a street or highway, any public park or place where people assemble with the intent to do bodily harm. Punishable by death.
1913 Fla. Acts 117
(1913)
An Act to Regulate the Hunting of Wild Deer etc., § 8: Prohibited hunting wild game with automatic guns.
1905 Fla. Laws 87
(1905)
An Act to Amend Sections . . . of the Revised Statutes of 1892, Relating to Breaking and Entering a Dwelling House. . ., Chap. 5411, § 2434: Enhanced the sentence of anyone breaking and entering a dwelling house or structure within the curtilage of the dwelling house with intent to commit a felony, or gaining such intent after entering, and is armed with a dangerous weapon, nitroglycerine, dynamite, gunpowder, or other high explosive, or takes possession of such items, or assaults any person inside. Violators punished by life in prison, or for such term of years as may be determined by the court.
1899 Fla. Laws 93
(1899)
An Act for the Better Protection of Passengers on Railway Trains in the State of Florida, ch. 4701, §§ 1-2: Prohibited discharge of any gun, pistol, or other firearm on any passenger train. Also prohibited reckless handle of any firearm or other weapon in the present of any other person on a train carrying passengers. Violators punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both at discretion of the court.
1895 Fla. Laws 14
(1895)
No merchant, store-keeper or dealer shall keep for sale or sell pistols, Springfield rifles, repeating rifles, bowie knives or dirk knives, without first paying a license tax of ten dollars; Provided, Said pistols, Springfield rifles, repeating rifles, bowie knives or dirk knives, shall not be sold to minors.
1893 Fla. Laws 71
(1893)
Ch. 4147: Required a license to carry a Winchester or other repeating rifle. Licenses to cost a one hundred dollar bond. Violators shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or sixty days in jail.
1897 Fla. Laws 59
(1897)
An Act to Punish the Improper Exhibition of Dangerous Weapons, chap. 4532, § 1: Prohibited brandishing any dirk, dirk-knife, sword, sword-cane, gun, pistol, or other deadly weapon in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner not in self defense. Violators shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding three months, or by fine not exceeding one hundred dollar, or both.
1901 Fla. Laws 57
(1901)
Ch. 4928: Amended 1893 Fla. Laws 71, ch. 4147 to include licensing for carrying concealed handguns. Violators fined one hundred dollars or jailed for thirty days.
1901 Fla. Laws 262
(1901)
§ 33: That the Council shall have power . . . to regulate or suppress the sale and use of fire-crackers and all other fire-works, toy pistols, air-guns and sling shots; to regulate the storage of gunpowder, tar, pitch, rosin, saltpetre, gun-cotton, coal-oil and all other combustibles, explosives and inflammable material
Fla. Const. of 1885, art. I, § 20
(1885)
Declared the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but the legislature shall have the right to regulate the manner in which arms are borne.
Fla. Act of Aug. 6, 1888, ch. 1637, subch. 7, § 10, as codified in Fla. Rev. Stat., tit. 2, pt. 5 (1892)
(1888)
Prohibited the concealed carrying of slungshot, metallic knuckles, billies, firearms, or other dangerous weapons if arrested for committing a criminal offense or disturbance of the peace. Punishable by imprisonment up to 1 year and a fine up to $50.
1893 Fla. Laws 13
(1893)
§ 14: Prohibited the keeping or selling of pistols, Springfield rifles, repeating rifles, Bowie-knives, or dirk knives by merchants, store-keepers, or dealers without paying a license tax of ten dollars. Violators punished by fined of fifty dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail of not more than six months. Also prohibited the sale of these weapons to minors.
1 Digest of the Laws of the State of Florida, From the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Two, to the Eleventh Day of March, One Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty-One Inclusive 873 (James F. McClellan ed., 1881)
(1881)
Fla. ch. 174, § 24, item 14: Replaced the two hundred dollar annual tax for vendors and ten dollar tax for open carry with a fifty dollar occupational license for vendors of pistols, Bowie-knives, or dirk-knives.
1 Digest of the Laws of the State of Florida, From the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Two, to the Eleventh Day of March, One Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty-One Inclusive 403 (James F. McClellan ed., 1881)
(1881)
Criminalized possessing dangerous weapons during arrests, manufacturing or selling slung shots/metallic knuckles, and secretly carrying weapons, punished by fines and/or jail time.
1881 Fla. Laws 87
(1881)
An Act to Prevent the Selling, Hiring, Bartering, Lending or Giving to Minors Under Sixteen Years of Age, or to any Person of Unsound Mind, Certain Fire-arms or other Dangerous Weapons, chap. 3285, § 1-2: Prohibited selling, hiring, bartering, lending, or giving any pistol, dirk, or other arm or weapon to any minor under sixteen years of age. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor, fined not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than three months.
1885 Fla. Laws 61-62
(1885)
Fla. Act of Feb. 12, ch. 3620: Prohibited the concealed carrying of any arms, dirk, pistol, or other arm or weapon is guilty of a misdemeanor. Fines not exceeding one hundred dollars or six months imprisonment.
A Digest of the Laws of the State of Florida: From the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Two, to the Eleventh Day of March, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-One, Inclusive, at 403 (James F. McClellan ed.,1881)
(1868)
Offences Against Public Peace, § 13 (Fla. Act of Aug. 6, 1868, ch. 1637): Prohibited the carrying "about or on their person" any dirk, pistol or other arm or weapon, except a "common pocket knife." Punishable by fine up to $100 or imprisonment up to 6 months.
Fla. Act of Aug. 8, 1868, as codified in Fla. Rev. Stat., tit. 2, pt. 5, at 2425 (1892)
(1868)
Prohibited the manufacture or sale of slungshots or metallic knuckles. Punishable by imprisonment for up to 6 months or a fine up to $100.
1893 Fla. Laws 51-52
(1868)
Prohibited carrying concealed weapons, except common pocket knives, and imposed penalties for possessing dangerous weapons while committing offenses. It also criminalized manufacturing or selling slung shots and metallic knuckles, while repealing a prior weapons provision.
1865 Fla. Laws 23, 25-27
(1866)
This Act imposed significant restrictions on the possession and use of firearms and the formation of military organizations within the State. It prohibited individuals from forming, participating in, or assisting unauthorized military organizations, classifying such conduct as a misdemeanor and authorizing substantial penalties, including fines, imprisonment, pillory, and whipping. The Act imposed even greater potential penalties on individuals who accepted offices within such organizations, reflecting particular concern with organized or armed groups operating outside state authority. Separately, the Act prohibited hunting or ranging with a gun on another person's enclosed land without the permission of the owner, tenant, or person exercising control over the property. Violators were subject to the penalties prescribed by the preceding section. Together, these provisions demonstrate the Act's regulation of firearms not only as instruments of individual conduct on private property, but also as potential tools of organized military activity. The provisions therefore combined property-based restrictions on the use of guns with broad prohibitions on unauthorized armed organization, backed by severe and discretionary criminal penalties.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Florida 782-83 (W.A. Blount et al. eds., 1892)
(1868)
1868 Fla. Rev. Stat., tit. 2, art. 5, §§ 2421-2425: Prohibited carrying concealed weapons, except common pocket knives, punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment or a $100 fine. Those arrested while committing an offense or disturbing the peace who possess firearms or other dangerous weapons face up to one year’s imprisonment and a $50 fine. Officers were required to seize such weapons, which are forfeited upon conviction and returned upon acquittal. Moreover, manufacturing or selling slung-shots or metallic knuckles was punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment or a $100 fine.

Florida

Florida

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