The short answer has changed recently, and a lot of what’s written about this online is now out of date. As of late 2025, openly carrying a firearm in a visible holster is legal in Florida for eligible adults — a reversal of the near-total open carry ban the state had enforced since 1987. If you’re reading an article that flatly says “open carry is illegal in Florida,” check the date on it before you rely on it.
What the law used to say
Florida Statute 790.053 made it a second-degree misdemeanor to openly carry a firearm in public, with only a handful of narrow exceptions — while fishing, hunting, or camping (or traveling directly to or from those activities), on your own property or place of business, and for a specific safe harbor covering concealed carriers: if a lawfully concealed firearm became briefly visible, a shirt riding up or a jacket shifting in the wind, that wasn’t treated as a violation, as long as it wasn’t displayed in an angry or threatening way.
That safe harbor is the reason so many search results focus on “brief” exposure — for decades, that exception was the only legal way a holstered gun could be visible outside those narrow activities.
What changed
On September 10, 2025, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal decided McDaniels v. State, striking down the open carry ban in section 790.053(1) as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The court applied the framework from the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, which requires the government to show a law restricting the right to bear arms is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation — and found Florida’s blanket ban couldn’t meet that standard.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued guidance on September 15, 2025, stating that the McDaniels decision was “the law of the state,” directing prosecutors and law enforcement statewide to stop arresting or prosecuting people for openly carrying firearms, and confirming his office would not appeal the ruling. Numerous sheriff’s offices across the state followed suit, announcing they would no longer enforce section 790.053(1) arrests.
Why this isn’t fully settled
A few things are worth understanding before you treat this as bulletproof:
- It’s an appellate ruling, not a Florida Supreme Court decision or new legislation. The First DCA’s ruling conflicts with Norman v. State, a 2017 Florida Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the same ban. Other district courts of appeal aren’t bound by the First DCA’s decision and could theoretically reach a different conclusion in a future case.
- The legislature hasn’t codified it. Because the change came from a court, not a statute, the actual text of section 790.053 hasn’t been rewritten to reflect the ruling — the practical effect is that it isn’t being enforced, not that lawmakers have formally repealed it. Legislative sessions since the ruling have focused on adjacent issues, like where firearms can’t be carried, rather than the open carry right itself.
- Enforcement practice, not statutory text, is currently what protects you. The Attorney General’s guidance and sheriffs’ public statements are why you’re unlikely to be arrested for a visible holster today, but that’s a different legal footing than a statute that’s actually been amended.
What still applies regardless of open carry’s status
None of this touches the other rules that limit where and how you can carry, visible holster or not:
- You still need to be legally eligible to possess a firearm — generally 21 or older and not otherwise disqualified under state and federal law.
- Brandishing is still a separate crime. Section 790.10 prohibits exhibiting a firearm in an angry or threatening manner, and that prohibition doesn’t depend on whether the underlying carry was open or concealed.
- Sensitive locations are still off-limits. Schools, courthouses, polling places, government meetings, and several other categories of property remain firearm-free regardless of how the weapon is carried.
- Private property owners can still ban firearms on their premises, and asking you to leave and refusing can turn into a trespassing issue independent of any gun charge.
The practical takeaway
A visible holster, by itself, is no longer the automatic misdemeanor it was before September 2025. But “the ban isn’t being enforced right now” and “the law has been permanently and unambiguously changed” aren’t quite the same thing, and this is a fast-moving area — further appellate rulings or legislative action could shift the picture again. If you’re making a decision that carries real consequences, verify the current status with a Florida attorney rather than relying on any single article, including this one.
For the state’s own account of the ruling and its guidance to law enforcement, see the Florida Attorney General’s office: Certain Professional Firearm Regulations after McDaniels.
This article is for general information only and isn’t legal advice.