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Florida NFA law
Florida is one of the easier states for this. There is no state registry, no state permit, no extra form and no state suppressor statute at all. There is exactly one Florida law that matters to NFA owners — and in 2026 it has become the most interesting sentence in the state code.
Florida: read this before you buy a short-barreled rifle or shotgun. ATF’s guidance is federal. It does not change Florida law, and ATF says so itself.
Fla. Stat. 790.221 makes possession of a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun or machine gun a second-degree felony. It carries an exception for firearms “lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law.” Suppressors are not named in that statute at all.
No Florida court has decided how that exception applies to a short-barreled rifle that is lawful federally but not registered, and there is no Florida Attorney General opinion on it. We are not going to tell you how it comes out, because we do not know and we are not lawyers. If you are buying a short-barreled rifle or shotgun in Florida, talk to a Florida attorney first. If you would rather hold a stamp while that question is open, ATF still accepts Form 1 and Form 4 applications and we will file one for you. Read Fla. Stat. 790.221. Reviewed October 9, 2026 — not legal advice, and Burnt Offerings Defense is not a law firm.
The short version. Everything the NFA covers is legal to own in Florida if it is lawful under federal law. Suppressors are unrestricted by state law and legal for hunting. SBRs, SBSs and machine guns are legal because Florida excepts anything federally lawful. Counties and cities may not add their own rules.
What is legal to own in Florida
| Item | Florida | What makes it lawful |
|---|---|---|
| Suppressor / silencer | Legal | No state restriction of any kind |
| Short-barreled rifle | Legal | Only via the federal exception in 790.221 |
| Short-barreled shotgun | Legal | Only via the federal exception in 790.221 |
| Any Other Weapon (AOW) | Legal | Not named in 790.221; federal rules apply |
| Machine gun | Legal | Pre-May-1986 registry only, via 790.221's exception |
| Destructive device | Legal | Federal registration and $200 tax |
The one statute: Fla. Stat. 790.221
Florida Statute 790.221 makes it unlawful to own or have in your care, custody, possession or control any short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or machine gun which is, or may readily be made, operable. It is a second-degree felony. Antique firearms are excluded.
Then comes the sentence everything hangs on:
"Firearms in violation hereof which are lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law are excepted."
Read that carefully, because two things follow from it.
First: suppressors are not in it. Silencers are not short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns or machine guns, and no other Florida statute restricts them. A Floridian with a suppressor is not exposed by 790.221 at all.
Second: your SBR is legal in Florida only for as long as it is lawful federally. Florida did not write its own permission — it borrowed the federal one. If your federal position is ever wrong, you have not committed a paperwork foul; you are in possession of a second-degree felony under state law, prosecutable by a state attorney who does not need ATF's involvement.
Why that wording matters more than usual right now
On 5 August 2026, in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF (consolidated with Jensen v. ATF), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held the NFA's registration and approval requirements unconstitutional as applied to suppressors, SBRs and SBSs now that the tax on those items is $0. The court's seven-day stay expired on 13 August 2026 and the judgment took effect.
The injunction itself is not nationwide. Following the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Trump v. CASA, federal courts generally cannot issue universal injunctions, so the court’s own order reaches only:
- the named plaintiffs;
- members of the organisations that sued;
- customers of the commercial plaintiffs, downstream in the chain of commerce;
- the plaintiff states' own agencies — not their residents.
What made it general was ATF, not the court. On October 9, 2026 ATF published an Open Letter and FAQs saying it will not enforce the making, transfer-approval or registration requirements for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs and AOWs against anyone, as an exercise of enforcement discretion. So the question of whether you personally fall inside the injunction no longer decides how you are treated federally. It is worth understanding the difference, because discretion can be withdrawn and a judgment cannot.
ATF has said plainly that this can be reversed: material changes in legal or factual circumstances could cause enforcement to resume, and it gives three examples — Congress imposing a new tax, the injunction being dissolved or overturned, or the Department rescinding the guidelines. Anyone relying on it should know it rests on an enforcement policy, not on a change in the statute. The National Firearms Act still says what it has always said.
The Florida question nobody has answered
Here is the wrinkle, and we would rather you hear it from us than find it out later.
790.221's exception says "lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law." It does not say "registered under the National Firearms Act." On the better reading, an SBR that a covered person lawfully possesses without registration is still lawfully possessed under federal law, and the exception applies. That is the argument, and we think it is the right one.
It has also never been tested in a Florida court, there is no Attorney General opinion on it, and the deputy who stops you at three in the morning will be looking for a stamp. A suppressor carries none of this risk because 790.221 does not mention suppressors. An unregistered SBR in Florida does.
Where we stand, updated October 9, 2026. On October 9, 2026 ATF published an Open Letter and FAQs saying it will no longer enforce the requirement to get ATF approval before making or transferring — or to register — suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and “any other weapons.” ATF applies this to everyone, not only the parties to the lawsuit, and calls it enforcement discretion.
We have changed our process to match. For those four categories we now transfer on a completed ATF Form 4473 and a NICS background check. No Form 4. No tax stamp. No waiting for an approval that is no longer required.
What has not changed. Machine guns and destructive devices still carry the $200 tax and the full NFA process, with no exceptions. A Form 4473 and a NICS check are still required on every transfer — ATF’s FAQ says so in terms. You still have to be legally allowed to possess a firearm. Our own five business day wait still applies to buyers without a Florida concealed weapon license; that is our policy, not a legal requirement, and we are keeping it. And this is federal — it does not change state or local law.
If you would rather have the paperwork, ATF still accepts and approves Form 1 and Form 4 applications from anyone who wants to register voluntarily. Say so and we will file it for you.
This could change back. ATF has said that material changes in legal or factual circumstances could cause enforcement to resume — a new tax from Congress, the injunction being dissolved or overturned, or the Department rescinding the guidance. We will update this page if that happens, and we date every revision. Read ATF’s guidance and FAQs · read the Open Letter.
On a short-barreled rifle in Florida that is not a close call. Until either ATF publishes guidance or a Florida court reads 790.221's exception for us, an unregistered SBR in this state rests on an argument nobody has tested. We are not putting a customer behind that argument.
Hunting with a suppressor in Florida
Legal, for all legal game, since 2014. Florida was comparatively late to this and the old "suppressors are for poachers" arguments still turn up in search results from that period.
Everything else about hunting is unchanged: season dates, legal method of take, public versus private land, and FWC's rules on where you may shoot. A suppressor changes the sound, not the regulation. Check the current FWC regulations for the species and area you are hunting.
Cities and counties cannot add rules
Florida Statute 790.33 preempts the whole field of firearm and ammunition regulation to the state legislature. A county or municipality may not enact or enforce its own ordinance on the sale, purchase, possession or transfer of firearms, and the statute carries personal liability for the officials who try — a personal fine, potential removal from office, and no indemnification from the local government.
So Martin County cannot require a suppressor permit, and Palm City cannot ban one. What local government can still do is regulate where you discharge a firearm and where you may shoot on your own property. Those are separate rules and they are the ones that catch people out.
What Florida does require, and people forget
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Waiting period (790.0655) | Three business days on firearm purchases, or until the background check clears, whichever is later. Exemptions include concealed weapon licence holders and same-transaction trade-ins. We apply five days as shop policy — longer than the state requires. |
| Age | 21 to purchase a firearm from a dealer in Florida, and 21 for handguns and NFA items federally. |
| Prohibited persons | Florida convictions count federally. Unlawful drug use includes marijuana, whatever state law says, because Form 4473 asks under federal law. |
| Photo ID | Required in person, every time, buying or selling. We photocopy it for our records. |
Where people actually get caught
- Driving an SBR across a state line. 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(4) still requires ATF authorisation to transport a short-barreled rifle or shotgun interstate. That provision was not part of the August 2026 case and is still enforceable. Suppressors do not need it; SBRs do. Georgia is four hours away and this is the mistake we hear about most.
- Taking a can to a state that bans them. Nine jurisdictions still do. Legal in Florida is not legal at your brother's house.
- Leaving an individually registered item where someone else can get to it. A shared safe with a shared combination is possession by that other person. See trust vs. individual.
- Discharging on your own land inside a residential area. State law (790.15) and local rules about where shooting is permitted both still apply, preemption or not.
- Assuming a Florida-legal machine gun is easy to find. It is legal and it is scarce — the transferable registry closed on 19 May 1986 and the tax on machine guns is still $200. Nothing in 2026 changed either fact. Renting on a Saturday is how most people find out whether they actually want one; see rentals.
- Moving here with something that was legal where you came from. Or moving away with something that is legal here. Check before the truck is loaded, not after.
Common questions
Do I need a Florida permit for a suppressor?
No. Florida has no suppressor permit, no registry and no state-level application. Whatever federal law requires of you is the entire requirement.
Does Florida require the sheriff to sign off?
No, and neither does federal law any more. Your chief law enforcement officer is notified of an NFA application, not asked for permission. That changed for everyone in 2016.
Can I carry a suppressed pistol concealed with a Florida licence?
Nothing in Florida law makes a suppressed handgun a different category of firearm for carry purposes. Whether one is practical to carry is a separate conversation.
My neighbour says suppressors are illegal for hunting deer here.
They were, until 2014. They have been legal for all legal game since. This is the single most common piece of out-of-date Florida gun knowledge we hear at the counter.
I am moving to Florida with NFA items. What do I have to do?
Nothing at the state level for suppressors. For a short-barreled rifle or shotgun you need ATF authorisation to bring it across the state line — do that before you move, not after. Machine guns require the same notification.
Is Florida going to pass its own NFA law if the federal one falls?
We are not going to guess at a legislature. What we will say is that 790.221 already exists, already makes SBRs, SBSs and machine guns a second-degree felony, and already depends on a federal exception — so Florida would not need to pass anything new to create a problem. That is worth watching.
Florida question we have not covered? Email Aaron@burntofferingsdefense.com. We are in Palm City, we file these locally, and if enough people ask the same thing it becomes the next guide. Appointments only, no walk-ins.
General information from a licensed dealer, not legal advice. Federal, state and local law changes — and in 2026 it is changing faster than usual. Confirm the rules in your own jurisdiction, and confirm the current status of any court order, before you buy. Last reviewed 3 September 2026.