What Florida's New Concealed Carry Ruling Means for 18-to-20-Year-Olds (And the Loophole Nobody's Talking About)

By Jamarkus B. Anderson, USCCA Training Counselor & NRA Certified Instructor | Integrity Tactical Solutions

If you're 18, 19, or 20 years old in Florida, your rights just changed — and if you're a parent of someone in that age range, you need to understand exactly what changed and what didn't.

On June 17, 2026, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled in Eubanks v. State that the state's ban on concealed carry for adults aged 18 to 20 is unconstitutional. I want to be precise about what this is, because precision matters when it comes to your legal safety: this wasn't a new law passed by the Legislature. It was a court decision. The Florida Attorney General's office has said it won't appeal, which means — for now — this ruling functions as the law of the state.

So, what actually happened? The case involved an 18-year-old, Jaylen Eubanks, who was arrested in Broward County in 2024 for carrying a concealed handgun. Florida law at the time required a person to be 21 to legally carry concealed. Eubanks challenged that law as a violation of his Second Amendment rights.

And the court agreed. Applying the framework from Bruen and Rahimi, the panel found that 18-to-20-year-olds are full members of "the people" protected by the Second Amendment, and that Florida couldn't point to a historical tradition of denying that specific age group the right to carry. The court noted the obvious tension here: an 18-year-old can be sent into combat but, until this ruling, couldn't legally defend themselves on a Florida sidewalk.

This follows a similar ruling from September 2025 that struck down Florida's long-standing open carry ban. Between the two decisions, adults 18 to 20 now have the same public carry rights — open or concealed — as adults 21 and older.

But, here's the thing: The purchase age didn't change. This is where you need to slow down, because this is the single most misunderstood part of the ruling.

Yes, you can now legally carry a concealed handgun at 18 in Florida BUT you still can't legally purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer until you're 21.

That's not a typo, and it's not a loophole I'm inventing out of thin air — it's a real gap between two separate legal frameworks that didn't move together:

• Federal law (under the Gun Control Act) has long set 21 as the minimum age to buy a handgun from a federally licensed dealer.

• Florida law, tightened after the 2018 Parkland shooting, raised the purchase age for long guns to 21 as well.

• Neither of those purchase laws was touched by the Eubanks ruling. That case was only about carrying, not buying.

So how does an 18-to-20-year-old legally end up with a handgun to carry? There are only a few (very) narrow paths: as a gift from a family member, through inheritance, or through service-related exceptions for active military, law enforcement, and corrections officers. Outside of these paths, an 18-to-20-year-old in Florida still cannot walk into a gun store and buy a handgun.

Now, for the quiet part: this is a real legal tension, and it's one that Florida Carry and other advocacy groups have already flagged publicly. You now have a right to carry that most 18-to-20-year-olds have no lawful retail path to exercise on their own. That's not me being alarmist — that's just where the law currently sits.

What does it REALLY mean for YOU?

If you're 18 to 20 and you're thinking about carrying:

1. Know exactly how you're allowed to have obtained the firearm. Gift, inheritance, or a qualifying service exception. If you can't answer that clearly, don't carry until you can.

2. Understand this ruling applies statewide, but the legal ground is still fresh. Court rulings can be revisited, and implementation across counties and agencies isn't always instant. Don't assume every officer or every jurisdiction has caught up on day one.

3. Rights without training are half a plan. A legal right to carry doesn't teach you when to carry, how to carry safely, or what happens in the moment you actually need to use that firearm. That part doesn't come from a court opinion — it comes from real training.

I need you to really hear me on this. Being legally allowed to carry and being prepared to carry are two completely different things. You need to have an thorough understanding of both.

Don't just take me at my word. I'm an instructor, NOT a lawyer. We're walking on extremely fast-moving legal ground. If you're 18 to 20 and weighing a real-world carry decision, do your own research AND talk to a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation before you act on anything in this post.

Train Hard. Train Smart. Train SAFE.™Jamarkus B. Anderson is a USCCA Training Counselor, NRA Pistol & Rifle Instructor, and Range Safety Officer serving Tampa Bay through Integrity Tactical Solutions. Book a concealed carry or fundamentals course with Jamarkus in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, or Tampa.