In Florida, the gun is never just a detail. A firearm in the mix can convert an ordinary felony into a mandatory-minimum case under the state's 10-20-Life law, turn a past conviction into a new three-year floor, and complicate everything from bond to plea posture. Firearms law is also where Florida changed most in recent years — so half of what people "know" about carrying is out of date. Here is the current landscape, and how these cases get defended.
10-20-Life: what actually triggers it — § 775.087, verified July 2026
The statute attaches mandatory minimums when a firearm meets one of eighteen enumerated felonies — robbery, burglary, kidnapping, carjacking, home-invasion robbery, aggravated battery, drug trafficking, and other serious charges:
| Conduct during a qualifying felony | Mandatory minimum |
|---|---|
| Actual possession of a firearm | 10 years |
| Discharge of a firearm | 20 years |
| Discharge causing death or great bodily harm | 25 years to life |
| Felon in possession (actual possession) | 3 years |
Separate, harsher tiers apply to semiautomatic weapons with high-capacity detachable magazines and machine guns. Like trafficking minimums, these floors bind the judge absolutely — no departure, no gain-time below the minimum. And a fact many people miss: since the Legislature's 2016 amendment, aggravated assault is no longer a 10-20-Life trigger. Displaying a weapon in a confrontation is still a serious felony, but the old story of "point a gun, twenty years minimum" is no longer the law — and prosecutors occasionally charge as if it were.
The most litigated word in the statute is actual. The mandatory minimums require actual, physical possession — in the hand, on the person, within immediate reach and control. A firearm in a glovebox, under a seat, or in a bedroom closet may support a charge on a constructive-possession theory, but constructive possession does not trigger the minimum. In multi-occupant cars and shared homes, that single distinction is routinely worth a decade.
Felon in possession — § 790.23
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is a second-degree felony carrying up to fifteen years, with the three-year minimum attached to actual possession. These cases look simple on the arrest report and rarely are. The defense terrain: possession itself (the gun in a shared vehicle or house belongs to whom, and who knew it was there?), the search (traffic stops and probation sweeps that produce guns are suppression targets), and the predicate (out-of-state convictions, withheld adjudications, and restored rights all complicate whether the person is legally a "felon" for § 790.23 purposes at all). Where rights restoration is realistic, we address it — solving the status can matter more than litigating the gun.
Carrying: what changed in 2023
Since July 1, 2023, Florida allows permitless concealed carry: an adult who is lawfully allowed to possess a firearm may carry it concealed without a license. What did not change matters more in criminal court: convicted felons and others prohibited from possession remain fully prohibited; carrying in restricted places (schools, courthouses, and the statutory list) remains criminal; and open carry remains generally unlawful in Florida outside narrow exceptions. A meaningful share of new gun charges are people who misread the 2023 law's edges — the defense starts with mapping the conduct against what the statute actually says.
How firearm cases get defended
Three levers do most of the work. Suppression — nearly every possession case begins with a stop, a frisk, or a search, and guns found through bad stops get excluded along with everything after them. Possession litigation — actual versus constructive is both a trial defense and, distinctly, the difference between a mandatory minimum and a negotiable case. Charge architecture — because the minimums attach to specific charge-and-finding combinations, negotiating the firearm finding or the underlying felony out of mandatory territory restores judicial discretion entirely. A gun case priced with a ten-year floor and a gun case priced on the open scoresheet are different negotiations, and moving a file from the first column to the second is often the whole assignment.
Common questions
The mandatory minimum requires actual possession — physical, hands-on, or within immediate reach and control. A glovebox or under-seat firearm is typically a constructive-possession theory: potentially still chargeable, but not minimum-mandatory territory. Prosecutors sometimes file as though the distinction didn't exist; establishing it, with vehicle layout, occupancy, and ownership evidence, is often the highest-value fight in the case.
No — that story is out of date. Aggravated assault was removed from 10-20-Life in 2016, so brandishing during a confrontation, standing alone, no longer carries the old mandatory minimums. It remains a chargeable felony with real exposure, and self-defense often looms large in these facts — Florida's immunity framework can apply to defensive displays. The 20-year tier belongs to discharge during an enumerated felony, which is a different case entirely.
No — permitless carry only removed the license requirement for people already lawful to possess. Felons and others prohibited under state or federal law gained nothing from the 2023 change, restricted locations still apply, and open carry remains generally unlawful. Most post-2023 carry arrests come from those three edges, and the defense begins with which edge the State claims — and whether the stop that found the gun was lawful at all.
Florida routes firearm-rights restoration through executive clemency — a slow process with waiting periods, but a real one, and out-of-state convictions are governed by the law of the convicting state, which sometimes offers faster paths. If you're facing a felon-in-possession charge, the predicate conviction itself deserves scrutiny too: withheld adjudications and certain out-of-state dispositions don't always qualify. And if you're not charged and want to carry lawfully someday, restoration is the project to start now, not after an arrest.
You can be — shared-home cases get filed on constructive-possession theories regularly — but the State must prove you knew the firearm was there and had dominion and control over it. A spouse's lawfully owned gun, kept in the spouse's own space, is a defensible fact pattern courts see often. Practical advice for mixed households after any felony conviction: physical separation and storage the prohibited person cannot access isn't just safer — it's the evidence that wins the case that never should have been filed.
When a firearm enters the charge, the floor moves. Make the State prove the possession, not just the gun.
Call (407) 749-1034 — phones answered around the clock — or request a confidential consultation.
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General information about Florida law — not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Mandatory minimums from § 775.087; felon-in-possession from § 790.23; carry provisions from ch. 790 as amended in 2023, Florida Statutes (verified July 2026). Every case depends on its facts; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.