Can 18-Year-Olds Carry Concealed in Florida?
On June 17, 2026, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that an 18-year-old can legally carry a concealed firearm in Florida. The court struck down the state’s 21-and-older age requirement as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. But this ruling comes with serious limits. Felons, people adjudicated mentally ill, and anyone under a domestic violence injunction are still prohibited, regardless of age.
The Day the Law Changed: Jaylen Eubanks’ Second Amendment Victory
I’ve been defending criminal accusations in Central Florida since 1993, and I’ve seen a lot of legal changes come and go. But what happened on June 17, 2026, was one of the most significant Second Amendment rulings to hit Florida in years. And most people have no idea it even happened.
An 18-year-old named Jaylen Eubanks challenged Florida’s law that said you had to be 21 to carry a concealed firearm. The court agreed with him. The ruling doesn’t just affect Eubanks. It means that right now, today, any law-abiding 18-year-old in Florida can legally carry a concealed firearm, just like someone who’s 21. The Eubanks decision fundamentally changed what’s legal for this age group across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, and Volusia counties, and it applies statewide.
But here’s the thing: this ruling is more nuanced than the headlines make it sound. It’s not a free pass for all young adults. And the distinction between carrying and buying? That matters, and it’s still a legal minefield.
Facing concealed firearm charges or questions about your rights? Call John at (407) 423-1117 for a free consultation. We’ve been defending Second Amendment rights in Central Florida for over 30 years.
How Jaylen Eubanks Ended Up Changing Florida Law
Jaylen Eubanks was 18 years old in Broward County when police responded to a call about someone displaying a handgun near a vehicle. Officers found an unholstered gun in his waistband and detained him. By Eubanks’ account, two men had approached him in a way that felt threatening. He believed they were about to run him over. He showed them the firearm to let them know he wasn’t going to be an easy target.
He got charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
Now, here’s where it gets important. Eubanks’ trial court refused to throw out the charge. The judge said the 21-and-older requirement was fine. Eubanks appealed. And in the appeals court, something different happened.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal sided with Eubanks. The panel, including Judge Spencer D. Levine, Chief Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz, and Judge Shannon K. Shaw, ruled that Florida Statute 790.06(2)(b), which mandated the 21-year-old floor for concealed carry, was facially unconstitutional as applied to 18 to 20-year-olds. The court vacated his conviction.
What Made This Ruling Actually Win: The Bruen Framework
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022), courts stopped using the old “is this a good idea” balancing test for gun laws. Bruen set a new bar: a two-step analysis that actually matters.
Step one: Does the Second Amendment’s plain text cover what this person did? The court said yes. Adults ages 18 to 20 are part of “the people.” They’re legally adults under Florida law. They can enter the military. They can vote. They can sign contracts. Carrying a firearm in public, including concealed carry, falls within the plain text of the Second Amendment.
Step two: Does the government have to show a historical tradition supporting its restriction? Here’s where Florida’s law collapsed. The state tried to argue that young adults commit more gun violence, so the restriction made sense. But under Bruen, statistics don’t decide constitutional rights. History decides. The court found no historical tradition of categorically barring law-abiding young adults from carrying firearms for self-defense.
Judge Levine wrote something that cuts to the core of this entire case: “Restricting 18- to 20-year-olds from rights to self-defense would make the Second Amendment a second-class right.” He also pointed out the practical absurdity: “Eighteen- to 20-year-olds can defend the country without restriction but can only utilize their Second Amendment right to self-defense with severe restrictions.”
The court was unanimous. No dissent. No hedging.
The Florida Attorney General Didn’t Even Fight This
Here’s what makes this ruling real, not theoretical. Florida’s Attorney General, James Uthmeier, didn’t defend the law. In February 2026, before the ruling came down, he announced that he agreed with Eubanks. The state’s own chief legal officer concluded that under the Bruen framework, Florida’s statute prohibiting 18 to 20-year-olds from carrying concealed firearms was unconstitutional. There was no historical tradition supporting it. Period.
Because no other Florida appellate court has considered this issue differently, and because the Attorney General refused to appeal, the Fourth District’s decision is effectively the law of the entire state right now. This isn’t a regional ruling. It’s not limited to Broward County or Southeast Florida. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), which administers concealed weapon licensing, confirmed it. They are accepting applications from 18-year-olds and issuing licenses to those who meet all other eligibility criteria.
When an 18-year-old can now legally carry a concealed firearm in Florida, that’s not a maybe. That’s the law.
What Didn’t Change: The Limits Still Matter
Before you think every 18-year-old in Florida can grab a gun and go, pump the brakes. This ruling is important, but it has hard boundaries.
First, the purchase issue. You still cannot legally buy a handgun in Florida if you’re under 21. That’s federal law. That didn’t change. The Eubanks ruling is about carrying, not purchasing. So if you’re 19, you can legally carry a concealed firearm that someone else lawfully owns, or that was gifted to you by a guardian. But walking into a gun store and buying one yourself? That’s still illegal at your age.
Second, the disqualifications haven’t budged. If you are a felon, you cannot carry concealed. If you’ve been adjudicated mentally ill, you cannot carry concealed. If you are subject to a domestic violence injunction, you cannot carry concealed. None of that changed. The Eubanks ruling struck down the age requirement specifically because age alone, without other disqualifying factors, is not historically justified. But every other disqualification that applies to a 25-year-old applies equally to an 18-year-old.
Third, location restrictions still apply. You cannot carry concealed into a school, a courthouse, a secure area of an airport, or anywhere else prohibited by law. Those rules don’t disappear because you’re now legally able to carry.
The Practical Bottom Line for an 18-Year-Old in Central Florida
Let me be blunt: if you’re 18, 19, or 20 years old in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, or Volusia counties, and you meet every other eligibility requirement, you can now legally carry a concealed firearm in Florida. You don’t need permission from your parents. You don’t need a special youth license. The law that locked you out is gone.
But here’s what matters more than the headline: if you actually do carry, and you make a mistake or face an accusation, you need a lawyer who understands this ruling inside and out. The Eubanks decision is brand new. Police officers, prosecutors, and trial judges are all still getting up to speed on what it means. Misunderstandings happen. Charges get filed incorrectly. Judges make rulings based on the old law because they haven’t caught up yet.
That’s where getting advice from someone who does this every day matters. A concealed carry charge based on a bad faith misreading of Eubanks is still a charge. And it still needs defending.
When the State’s Argument Falls Apart
The State Attorney’s Office in Broward County had argued that excluding 18 to 20-year-olds from concealed carry was reasonable because younger people are statistically involved in more gun violence. That’s not a frivolous concern. The worry is real. But the Bruen framework doesn’t care about statistics in this context. It cares about history and tradition.
The court essentially said: you can’t suspend a constitutional right because a demographic commits crimes at higher rates. That would turn constitutional rights into privileges granted to the well-behaved. History doesn’t support that. And it would treat 18-year-olds differently from every other adult in ways the Constitution doesn’t allow.
This is where intellectual honesty matters. The state’s concern wasn’t crazy. Younger people do commit gun crimes at higher rates. That’s true. But true or not, it doesn’t override the Second Amendment under modern Supreme Court precedent.
How Eubanks v. State Fits Into Florida’s Broader Second Amendment Story
This isn’t Florida’s first big Second Amendment win in recent years. Florida already went to permitless (constitutional) carry in 2023. The state also struck down its open carry ban. The courts have been steadily expanding gun rights in Florida based on the Heller, Bruen, and Rahimi frameworks from the U.S. Supreme Court.
But Eubanks is different in one key way: it’s about a category of people, not a type of gun or a method of carry. It says that adulthood under the law (set at 18 in modern times) is the constitutional boundary, not an arbitrary age picked by legislators. The court compared it to Heller’s rejection of interpreting the Second Amendment through the lens of 18th-century definitions. Just as the definition of protected “arms” isn’t frozen at 1791, the definition of “the people” isn’t frozen at 1791 either. People who are adults today are adults, period.
That’s a substantial shift in how courts think about Second Amendment rights relative to age.
If You’re 18 to 20 and You Carry: Know the Rules
You can legally carry concealed now. But “can” doesn’t mean you should do it without thinking it through.
Know where you can and cannot carry. Know your disqualifications. Get trained if you haven’t already. Understand that even though the law is on your side, an accusation or a misunderstanding can still land you in court. And when that happens, you need someone who knows the case law, knows the prosecutors in your county, and knows how judges in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, and Volusia counties have been handling these charges.
The Eubanks ruling is ironclad legally. But legal rights are only as good as your ability to defend them when they’re challenged.
John’s Takeaways
Here’s what you need to lock in about 18-year-old concealed carry in Florida after Eubanks:
- Law-abiding 18 to 20-year-olds can now legally carry concealed firearms in Florida after the Fourth District Court of Appeal struck down the 21-and-older requirement as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
- You still cannot legally purchase a handgun under age 21, even though you can now carry one. Carrying and buying are separate legal questions, and the purchase ban is federal law.
- Felons, people adjudicated mentally ill, and anyone subject to a domestic violence injunction are still prohibited from carrying concealed, regardless of age, because those disqualifications apply based on conduct or status, not age alone.
- The ruling applies statewide because Florida’s Attorney General declined to appeal and no other appellate court has disagreed, making the Fourth District’s decision the effective law across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, and Volusia counties.
- If you face a concealed carry charge based on the old 21-and-older law, or if an officer arrests you claiming the Eubanks ruling doesn’t apply to your situation, contact a criminal defense attorney immediately, because prosecutors and judges are still catching up to this new law.
Don’t Face These Questions Alone
Eubanks v. State changed the game for young adults’ Second Amendment rights in Florida. But change creates confusion, and confusion creates charges. If you’re facing a concealed firearm charge, if you’re unsure whether the Eubanks ruling applies to your situation, or if you want to understand your rights as an 18 to 20-year-old in Florida, call me.
I’ve been defending criminal accusations and protecting constitutional rights in Central Florida since 1993. I work across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, and Volusia counties. Free consultation. Call (407) 423-1117 today.
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Stay informed. Stay safe. Know your rights.
About John Guidry II
John Guidry II is a seasoned criminal defense attorney and founder of the Law Firm of John P. Guidry II, P.A., located in downtown Orlando next to the Orange County Courthouse, where he has practiced for over 30 years. With more than three decades of experience defending clients throughout Central Florida since 1993, Guidry has successfully defended thousands of cases in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard, Lake, and Volusia counties. He has built a reputation for his strategic approach to criminal defense, focusing on pretrial motions and case dismissals rather than jury trials.
John Guidry earned both his Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University in 1993. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His practice encompasses the full spectrum of Florida state criminal charges, with a particular emphasis on achieving favorable outcomes through thorough pretrial preparation and motion practice.
Beyond the courtroom, Guidry is a prolific legal educator who has authored over 400 articles on criminal defense topics. He shares his legal expertise through his popular YouTube channel, Instagram, and TikTok accounts, where he has built a substantial following of people eager to learn about the law. His educational content breaks down complex legal concepts into accessible information for the general public.
When not practicing law, Guidry enjoys tennis and pickleball, and loves to travel. Drawing from his background as a former recording studio owner and music video producer in the Orlando area, he brings a creative perspective to his legal practice and continues to apply his passion for video production to his educational content.