Florida Constitutional Carry: What's Next

Florida's constitutional carry law has been on the books since July 2023, and the Legislature isn't done pushing.

The big picture: Florida has fundamentally reshaped its gun law landscape over the past three years. Constitutional carry took effect in July 2023 after DeSantis signed SB 264. Open carry followed in 2025, making Florida one of the later permitless carry states to add it. Together, those two laws put Florida firmly in the camp of states with the broadest public carry rights in the country—and the 2026 session signals Tallahassee still has appetite for more.

The most visible move this session: the Florida House passed HB 133 on a 74-37 vote, which would drop the minimum age to buy rifles and other long guns from 21 back to 18. That age was raised to 21 in 2018 as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, passed in the immediate aftermath of the Parkland shooting that killed 17 people.

The intrigue: The House has now passed this rollback four sessions in a row—and the Senate has ignored it every single time.

• Without a Senate companion bill, HB 133 almost certainly dies before it reaches Gov. DeSantis's desk.
• No companion bill has been filed this session either, continuing the pattern since 2023.

The floor debate covered familiar ground. Rep. Robin Bartleman (D-Weston) tied the age bill directly to constitutional carry, pointing out that Florida already has permitless carry, no training requirement, no storage mandate, and now open carry—meaning an 18-year-old could legally walk around with an AR-15 on their back under current law. Rep. Tyler Sirois (R-Merritt Island), the bill's sponsor, framed it differently: the 2018 age restriction was a reaction to tragedy, not constitutional policy, and 18-year-olds who are legally adults shouldn't be denied a right the Constitution protects.

What they're saying: Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he would not defend the 21-year minimum age law if the NRA takes a challenge to the Supreme Court—an unusual stance that signals where Florida's executive branch stands even when the Senate won't act.

What to watch: Two tracks could move this issue forward regardless of whether the Senate acts.

• If the Senate stays quiet, this becomes the fifth consecutive session where the House passed age rollback legislation that died without a floor vote in the upper chamber.
• If the NRA petitions for cert on the Parkland-era age law, Florida's AG has already said he won't defend it—which could produce a federal ruling that makes the Senate's inaction moot entirely.

The bottom line: Florida's constitutional carry framework is settled law. The open question heading into the rest of 2026 is whether the Senate finally moves on long gun age—or whether the courts get there first.

Go deeper:

• https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/15/florida-house-passes-bill-to-lower-the-age-to-purchase-a-long-gun-to-18-years/