If you live in the state of Florida or find yourself there, it is important that you get familiar with the Florida laws regarding Airosoft guns and the concealed carry.
If you break such laws, it may cause unnecessary issues to you even if you did not know about them and it is your first break of the law. The law about firearms where the airsoft guns also find the place in, greatly depend from state to state and it is smart to always dig into the law and find out all the fundamentals worth knowing.
I have made a research by looking into the Law of Florida and therefore decided to mention all the important factors that you must know.
For more information on similar law you can find it on Florida Senate page here, but I believe the one mentioned below are the ones you really need to know about.
In short, the state of Florida prohibits the use of airsoft guns by minors without supervision. Airsoft guns are not considered as firearms in Florida because they do not use an explosive charge to shoot a projectile.
Some states consider Airsoft guns as firearms, fortunatelly Florida does not.
Restrictions in the state of Florida regarding Airsoft guns
Restrictions to Minors
- The use of air or gas-operated guns or electric weapons (AEGs) is considered prohibited for minors under the age of 16 unless such use under the supervision. The supervision is any adult that acts with the consent of the minor’s parent.
- A minor that is under 18 years of age may not posses a firearm at all unless the minor is engaged in some of the following activities: Hunting activities, marksmanship competition, practice of lawful recreational shooting. Even when it the minor is allowed to own a gun and is engaged in one of the activities mentioned, the minor must be supervisioned.
- Any parent or guardian of a minor who is responsible for the welfare of a minor must not allow the minor to posses a firearm without supervision, otherwise they are causing a violation and they commit a felony of the third degree.
So in summary, if you are under the age of 16, The state of Florida prohibits you from using Airsoft guns unless you are supervisioned by parents or any other adult who has their consent.
This means that if you want to play Airsoft you will simply have to find the adults who will get the consent from your parents and you will be able to enjoy playing with them, you can always bring your frends with you and it will be considered as you are all supervisioned if their parents are also aware of it.
Punishment for Breaking the airsoft gun laws in the state of florida
Punishment for the Minor
First time violation
The law says that for the very first offence, a minor will serve a period of detention of up to 3 days in a secure detention facility. In addition, the minor may be required to perform 100 hours of comunity service and may temporarely be delayed from their driving license for a year.
Subsequent violation:
In case that the offence has been repeated, a minor commits a felony of the third degree.
The punishment is a period of detention of up to 15 days in a secure detention facility.
It is also mandatory that the minor performs not less than 100 hours and not more than 250 hours of community service.
Additionally, if the minor is eligible for a driver license, the driver license shall be delayed for an additional period of up to two years.
This time the community service shall be performed in a hospital emergency room or any other medical environment that deals with trauma patients and wounds caused by the gunshot.
Punishment for the Parent
In the case that the law has been broken for the first time, the parent will be required to parcticipare in classes on parenting education that are approved by the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Upon the subsequent conviction of the minor, the court may require the parent to attend further education classes or to render community service hours together the minor.
This way the state of Florida promotes the education about firearms and punishes both the parent and the child accordingly.
The community service may be anything from building a shelter for homeless to leading treatment meetings at the facility.
Do you need an orange tip on your Airsoft gun in Florida?
Legally observed you only need the orange tip when purchasing a gun or importing it, the law also wants you to keep it whenever transporting it in public but you should not display it in public at the very first step anyways.
Once you have unpacked it at home you are free to remove the tip if it annoys you, however if you consider bringing the gun in public, you should be aware that it may cause a panic whether you have the orange tip on or not and the common folk is not able to tell it apart from the real gun.
Police may arrive and investigate the situation, eventually you would be good to go, unless you would be holding a gun in front of them.
There have been some cases in other states when the altercation with the police resulted in shooting.
A police officer may easily misunderstood the situation and see your gun as a treat even if the orange tips is included.
The conclusion is that if you ever bring the airsoft replica gun in public, put it in a bag so it is not visible.
Furthermore, keeping the orange tip or securing it for the later use by re-attaching it may be a positive decision no matters whether the law requires you to do so or not.
The common folk will have easier time understanding that it is an airsoft replica instead of a real gun if you ever get deeper in conversation with them.
Conclusion on the topic
Airsoft guns in Florida are not recognized as firearms and therefore everything makes it easier from importing to use. You could even carry an airsoft replica gun to a school and the different law would be applied on you.
However, do not ever carry the airsoft replica anywhere in public, especially in schools or in such places in order to completely negate the negative odds. The only point I am trying to make here, is that the firearm Law would not be applied in such situations.
Schools have their own regulations regarding air guns and bringing it there would still cause an incident.
If you commit a crime with airsoft replica you still have committed a crime.
It is recommended that you properly store your replica whenever you transport it.