It’s the first time that I’ve had to renew my Florida concealed carry permit. When I applied for the first, I was still living in NY, so the application was for a non-resident permit. That whole process took about 2 months, the majority simply waiting for the permit to be processed and mailed.
Upon moving down to the Sunshine State, I updated my address with them and it turned into a resident permit.
This coming January I was up for renewal. They sent the form in the mail for me to complete, as well as an option to renew online. Obviously I chose the latter. I filled out the online app, took a photo and uploaded it, all of which took about 5 minutes combined.
I paid the $45 fee and hit submit.
This was on November 18th around 10 pm.
To my surprise, I received the new permit in the mail today, a measly 5 business days after submitting my renewal. That’s a nice turnaround, and now I’m good until 2027. They aren’t dragging their feet.
Results may vary, of course. Maybe I caught them at a slow time of the year, or maybe this is how they get things done. I’m not sure, but I do know that my experience was an effortless (and quick) one.
The only other example I personally have is the renewal of my NYS pistol permit, which now is a non-resident permit. That process needed to be done via mail, as required for non-resident permits. That took about 6 weeks, which seems like overkill to me.
Online is the way to go, and it’s nice to see that Florida offers such a feature.
Legal Heat, the leader in online and in-person certification, currently has 13 states in which you can take online courses in preparation for the respective state concealed carry permit application.
While the above doesn’t apply to renewals in most cases, it’s nice to know that such avenues are currently available.
