I live in Florida, if I buy a used gun do I need to register it in my name to conceal carry it ? Thanks to anyone who can help.
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Tim,
If you are asking do you need a license to carry a concealed handgun, the answer is YES. Florida is not a Constitutional or Permitless Carry state.
You can find details on the HandGunLaw-Florida page.
If you are asking about registering the gun as the owner, the short, immediate answer is NO.
However, you are better off doing your own research on topics like this. I just did a web search for the phrase
which states require gun registration?
And got confirmation from three sources that Florida, like the vast majority of states, ahas no gun registration.
Anti-gunner group Giffords has Registration
Neutral site Ballotpedia has
Firearm registration requirements by state
and
pro-gun NRA has
Gun Registration | Gun Licensing
Movies and television shows have most folks believing gun registration is universal across the USA. Not so!
In fact, Florida has a law that forbids gun registration!
Buy your gun and enjoy.
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I really appreciate it thank you.
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I am guessing you are asking since states like CA require you to register and show proficiency with any firearm you plan to catty.
I strongly agree with Craig_AR. I lived in FL for 20 years and although have not been back in 20 years I still keep my CCP current. I dont recall ever being required to register a gun.
That said, when buying a gun from a dealer they essentially “register” it when you do the background check. They say they dont, but I dont see why they would ask for the s/n and types of guns purchased if not to keep some sort of record, de-facto registration in my opinion.
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As we hear so often, it’s complicated. When you buy a firearm from a Federal FIrearms Licensed (FFL) dealer you fill out a Form 4473 as mandated my BATFE, either on paper or on a computer. Data from that form goes to the FBI’s National Instant Check System (NICS), where your identity is confirmed as unique (you hope) and checked against a not allowed to buy list of people. NICS is not supposed to contain details on guns and purchases, only on people, do-not-sell flags, and record of name checks. NICS is designed not to hold a registry of guns with owners.
When the NICS tells the FFL dealer you are OK to buy, you complete the purchase and go home happy. The dealer must keep your 4473 in local files; the form does get sent to BATFE, FBI, or any other government agency, then. Your gun is registered with that FFL dealer, but not directly with the government at that time.
And there is the complication. FFL dealers must maintain their 4473 files as long as they are licensed. However, when they give up the license dealers must turn over all of those 4473 records to BATFE for archival storage. For a long time the assumption was those records would just go into a warehouse in West Virginia. Recently the public learned that is not quite what has been happening. BATFE has had an ongoing program to digitize all of those retired FFL 4473 records, thus creating a database (registry) of gun transfers done through FFL dealers who are no longer in business.
This retired FFL 4473 database is not a full gun registry, because it is not likely to hold recent transactions, and also does not have information on private purchases and transfers that did not go through FFL dealers, whether legal (face to face in-state) or illegal (uncontrolled sales and thefts).
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Great overview Craig. IIRC the 4473 has to be kept 20 years, not forever (although they may be anyway), but, that doesn’t change what you’ve laid out by much and the BATFE still takes the records when an FFL goes out of business and more and more FFL’s (especially the big chains) are using digital 4473 from the beginning now…
…which leads us into so called “Universal background checks”.
What do you get when you combine what Craig posted with a requirement that all transfers go through an FFL?
Especially if 4473’s are made all digital, and those records of course find their way to the feds, “Universal background checks” would then mean that every firearm transferred after that change becomes registered, because, either the last person it was transferred to is the one who possesses it, or that person transferred it illegally…more or less
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You get the current situation, amplified by a record of all legal transfers: All legitimate gun owners would be in the registry, but all illicit gun owners (obtained by theft or in violation of UBC laws) will have unregistered guns. Bad guys will have unregistered guns and law abiding folks will have registered guns. What exactly does that help?
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It helps the government department that will eventually have to round up all the legal guns.
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There is a push to enact constitutional carry in Florida. If this happens, it may save you the fee (about $100), a trip to get fingerprinted, a couple months’ wait time, and being registered in state databases. I wouldn’t count on this to pass the political hurdles in 2022 though.
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$100? Woohoo! That’ll buy you a small box of .380, or two gallons of gas! 
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Welcome @Tim-sullivan06!
Also a FL resident. Technically, you don’t need to register a firearm to conceal carry it as long as you have a license. A FL CWL is not tied to any specific firearm so you can switch it up anytime.
Just my 2cents. I personally would want to make sure I am carrying a “clean” firearm. If anything, make sure it is not stolen and does not have a troubled history.
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Thank you I’m learning a lot of good stuff on here. I have my CWL and I recently bought a shield 45 2.0 of a close friend. And they were kinda freakin out and worried about it being in their name if I was gonna carry it lol. So that’s what got me wondering about this.
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Believe in Florida that as long as you are both FL residents person to person transfers are OK. If your friend is worried you could write up and sign a bill of sale for him with the date you purchased, make, model and serial number. That way they will have proof that they sold the firearm to you and are no longer the owner. You could do a formal transfer through a dealer so the government can illegally track the transfer but then you have to pay the fees.
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If a firearm is registered, used in crime, is there a way to trace that gun or the bullet fired — to the owner?
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Save $100 every five years or maintain reciprocity with states you visit that may not have constitutional carry. I will keep my license.
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That’s a good point. Do states with constitutional carry continue to keep licensing individuals?
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Registered in what capacity? As far as I know, Florida doesn’t register any firearms.
If you live in a state that registers firearms, and your registered firearm is used in a crime, unless the serials were all removed after it was stolen, I’d imagine it will show up as being registered to you when they run the serials that are registered to you.
If the gun is not registered, it could still have you name in a way, if, say, you bought it from an FFL when it was new. The way that might happen, is LE get the serial number, and following the manufactruer/distributor/retailer/4473, they may find information for the first person who bought it new from the FFL. If that person lives in a “UBC” state, that person should be the possessor/owner of the firearm or should be able to show documentation (4473) at some FFL they used to transfer it to somebody else. If that person lives in a regular state that does not have “UBC”, that person may still own/possess the gun or may have lawfully transferred it to another person without government involvement/tracking
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Most, that I know of, do for just that purpose. Some, such as MS for example, have licensing for purposes of being allowed to carry concealed in places otherwise restricted. Yes, even with constitutional carry they put some restrictions on that.
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To add to what @Bjorn said, I keep my permit up to date so that I can still carry when the anti-gun folks get back in power and repeal constitutional carry. I don’t think it’ll happen any time soon, but it’ll happen eventually.
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Permits, especially from your state of residence, are good to have if, for nothing else, out of state travel. Reciprocity goes better.
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