Florida Class “G” Statewide Firearm License Requirements

Florida Licensing Guide · Armed Security & Law Enforcement

By GunSafety4U · Tampa Bay, Florida · Last reviewed August 7, 2026

The Class “G” Statewide Firearm License is what separates a security officer from an armed security officer in Florida. It is not a concealed carry permit, it is not a standalone license, and it is not something you can hold on its own — under Section 493.6115(5), Florida Statutes, a Class “G” stays in effect only while you are employed in a qualifying licensed capacity.

It is also the most commonly misunderstood license in Chapter 493. Half the guides published on it state the wrong minimum age. Most skip the fact that you cannot work armed while your application is pending. And almost none explain the reporting rule that suspends licenses belonging to officers who did complete their training on time.

This is the complete pathway: who actually qualifies, what the 28 hours consist of, the range standard you have to shoot, what FDACS needs from you, which firearms you are authorized to carry, and the annual requalification cycle that most suspensions trace back to.

What the Class “G” is — and what it is not

A Class “G” is a firearm authority that attaches to an existing security or investigative license. It is not a license to work security by itself. Section 493.6115(5) is blunt about this: the Class “G” remains in effect only during the period you are employed as a Class “C,” “CC,” “D,” “M,” “MA,” or “MB” licensee.

In practice, for most people that means the Class “D” Security Officer license comes first, and the Class “G” is the armed add-on. Leave qualifying employment and the firearm authority stops functioning, even though the plastic card in your wallet has not expired.

Three things it is emphatically not:

• Not a concealed weapon license. A Florida CWFL and a Class “G” are different licenses with different applications, different training, and different scopes. Holding one does not grant the other. If you are trying to sort out the civilian side, our guide to CWFL vs. CWP vs. CCW in Florida covers that territory.
• Not general carry authority. The Class “G” authorizes a firearm while performing duties regulated under Chapter 493. It is on-duty authority, not an all-purpose permit.
• Not a teaching credential. Only a Class “K” licensee may teach the Class “G” curriculum. If instructing is your goal, that is a separate license — see our Florida Class “K” Firearms Instructor License guide.

Who qualifies — and the age most guides get wrong

Section 493.6106(1) sets the baseline for every individual licensed under Chapter 493. You must be at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. You must not have been adjudicated incapacitated under Section 744.331 unless your capacity has been judicially restored, must not have been involuntarily placed in a treatment facility for the mentally ill under Chapter 394 unless your competency has been judicially restored, and must not have been diagnosed with an incapacitating mental illness unless a Florida-licensed psychologist or psychiatrist certifies you do not currently suffer from it.

The statute also disqualifies chronic and habitual users of alcohol to the extent normal faculties are impaired, anyone committed under Chapter 397, and anyone found to be a habitual offender.

One citizenship distinction specific to Class “G” and Class “K”: applicants who are not U.S. citizens must submit proof of permanent legal resident alien status. For most other Chapter 493 license classes, a current USCIS employment authorization is acceptable. For the firearm licenses, it is not.

There is also a disclosure rule that catches younger applicants. Under Section 493.6105(3)(f), Class “G” and Class “K” applicants younger than 24 must additionally disclose any finding of having committed a delinquent act that would have been a felony punishable by more than one year if committed by an adult. That is on top of the standard requirement to report all convictions, findings of guilt, and pleas of guilty or nolo contendere — regardless of adjudication.

The 28-hour course, hour by hour

Section 493.6105(5) requires 28 hours of range and classroom training, taught and administered by one or more Class “K” licensees. The internal split is set by the statute and Rule 5N-1.132: no more than 20 hours may be delivered in an online classroom, and 8 hours must be in-person range training that includes instruction on safe handling and storage.

The FDACS curriculum divides those hours as follows:

Classroom instruction may be delivered in person or by live online instruction through a secure website, provided the instructor verifies your identity, attendance, and successful completion. It has to be genuinely live. Rule 5N-1.132 permits audio and video material as an instructional aid but prohibits an instructor from relying solely on it, and requires real-time interaction.

There is one piece of instructor discretion worth understanding. A Class “K” instructor may reduce range qualification to as few as five hours if a student demonstrates sufficient mastery of safe handling — including shooting a qualifying score — without the full eight. But reducing range hours requires adding hours elsewhere, because the cumulative total must still reach the 28 hours Section 493.6105(5) demands. Nobody gets a shorter course; they get a differently weighted one.

This structure is why many Florida providers split delivery. GunSafety4U handles the in-person range work through its Florida armed security “G” license course, running monthly G8 range training to FDACS specifications and administering the written test, with a partner training company delivering the 20 online classroom hours.

The range standard: rounds, score, and the written exam

The qualification is a pass-or-fail performance standard, not an attendance credit. In the GunSafety4U G28 course, built to FDACS specifications, students fire 144 rounds for initial licensure — 48 rounds of practice fire plus two cycles of 48 rounds for qualification — and must shoot 168 out of 240 possible points to pass.

You also sit a 100-question written examination covering the legal and operational/mechanical portions of the curriculum: negligence, liability, the Florida statutes that govern security work, and scenario-based instruction on use of force and deadly force.

Both have to be passed. Course completion at a compliant school means performance to state-mandated standards with no exceptions, because the instructor's own Class “K” license is on the line every time they generate a proficiency certificate. If a program tells you the qualification is a formality, that is a warning about the program, not a feature of it.

Applying: what FDACS needs from you

Under Section 493.6105(1), Class “D” and Class “G” applicants are not required to submit an application fee — a genuine exemption most guides miss while quoting a single lump-sum figure. The license fee, fingerprint processing fee, and fingerprint retention fee are separate charges set by department rule and do apply.

Your package needs:

• Name and any aliases, age and date of birth, place of birth, Social Security or alien registration number, and current residence and mailing addresses.
• A full statement of criminal history as described above, plus the under-24 juvenile disclosure if it applies.
• One passport-type color photograph taken within the six months immediately preceding submission.
• Statements regarding incapacity under Chapter 744 and commitment under Chapter 394.
• A full set of fingerprints with the processing and retention fees. If you submitted prints and fees for another Chapter 493 license within the preceding six months and still hold that valid license, you do not resubmit.
• A personal inquiry waiver.
• Your Certificate of Firearms Proficiency for Statewide Firearms License — generated by your Class “K” instructor through their LIAS account on form FDACS-16005 and delivered to you within three business days of class completion. Your instructor also submits results directly to the Division of Licensing.

Which firearms you may carry

This is narrower than most licensees assume. Section 493.6115(6) provides that, in addition to any other firearm approved by the department, a Class “G” licensee may carry a .38 caliber revolver; a .380 caliber or 9mm semiautomatic pistol; a .357 caliber revolver with .38 caliber ammunition only; a .40 caliber handgun; or a .45 ACP handgun, while performing duties authorized under Chapter 493.

Two hard limits sit on top of that list:

• No more than two firearms on your person while performing your duties.
• Only the specific type and caliber you qualified on. Your initial 28-hour course qualifies you for the calibers you actually trained with. Rule 5N-1.132(3)(a) requires a separate 4-hour class specific to any additional firearm type or caliber your duties require — and then annual requalification for each one you carry, with a separate certificate submitted for each.

There is a small mercy in the rule for secondary firearms. Under Rule 5N-1.132(3)(c), failing to requalify on a secondary firearm does not suspend your license as long as your primary type and caliber remain current. You simply cannot use the secondary firearm until you requalify on it.

The annual 4-hour requalification — and the reporting trap

The Class “G” runs two years, but the training obligation is annual. Rule 5N-1.132(2)(a) requires four hours of range and classroom training taught by a Class “K” instructor during each twelve-month period of the two-year term — including the first twelve months after the license is initially issued. Training must be specific to each type and caliber you carry.

The reporting deadline is exact: submit the Certificate of Firearms Proficiency each year on or before the month and day that appears on the face of your license as the expiration date. Not the anniversary of your class. Not the end of the calendar year. The month and day printed on the card.

Missing the training itself is far worse, and the consequences escalate:

• Miss the first year. Automatic suspension, and reinstatement requires proof that you completed another full 28 hours of range and classroom training — the entire initial course again.
• Miss the second year. No automatic suspension mid-term, but you must complete another full 28 hours and submit proof before the license will be renewed at all.

Four hours a year, or twenty-eight hours to recover. That is the entire economics of staying current, and it is why serious agencies calendar requalification against the license expiration date the week the card arrives. GunSafety4U runs the G4 annual recertification on a continuous schedule for exactly this reason — the 4-hour course reviews the initial curriculum plus recent changes in the law, and requires a passing score on a 48-round cycle of fire.

Renewal, lapses, and fee waivers

Section 493.6113 governs renewal. FDACS mails a written notice to your last known mailing address at least 90 days before expiration — which is also why Section 493.6106(3) requires you to notify the division in writing within 10 days of any change of residence or mailing address. A renewal notice sent to an old address is still a notice sent.

Three provisions worth internalizing:

• You cannot work during a lapse. A renewal applicant may not perform any activity regulated by Chapter 493 between the expiration date and the renewal date.
• Three months is a hard wall. No license may be renewed three months or more after its expiration date. Past that, you file a new complete application and pay new fees. Inside the window, you can renew late with a late fee that by statute cannot exceed the license fee.
• Military fee waivers exist. FDACS waives renewal fees for active duty service members and their spouses, for licensees who served on active duty within the two years preceding expiration and were honorably discharged, and for surviving spouses of members who died on active duty in that window. You must apply for it in the department's prescribed format with supporting documentation — it is not automatic.

Who can skip the 28 hours

Section 493.6105(5) allows FDACS to waive the initial firearms training requirement for three categories of applicant:

1. Applicants currently certified as a law enforcement or correctional officer under the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, or who completed the training required for that certification within the last 12 months.
2. Applicants currently certified as a federal law enforcement officer who have received law enforcement firearms training administered by a federal agency.
3. Applicants who submit a valid firearm certificate from the list in Section 493.6105(6)(a) — the same four certificates that qualify someone for a Class “K” license, including the NRA Private Security Firearm Instructor Certificate.

That third path is a useful efficiency for anyone pursuing both licenses: the certificate that qualifies you to teach the Class “G” course also waives your own requirement to take it.

Separate waivers exist at renewal under Section 493.6113(3)(b) for CJSTC-certified officers with annual requalification during the previous two years, federal officers with equivalent annual training, holders of a valid 493.6105(6)(a) certificate with requalification proof, and officers completing annual training under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. ss. 926B–926C.

What most Class “G” guides get wrong

1. The minimum age. Section 493.6106(1)(a) says 18. The 21 figure so widely republished belongs to Section 493.6115(4) and applies only to concealed on-duty carry.

2. The application fee. Class “G” applicants are statutorily exempt from the application fee. Guides that publish one all-in dollar figure are usually bundling the license fee, fingerprint processing, and retention into a number they never itemize — and those are set by rule and change.

3. Reporting versus training. The automatic suspension for completing requalification on time but reporting it late is the single most avoidable license problem in Florida armed security, and it is almost never mentioned.

4. Employment dependency. Section 493.6115(5) means the Class “G” is only live while you hold qualifying employment. It is not a credential you bank between jobs.

5. Caliber scope. You are authorized for the specific type and caliber you qualified on, capped at two firearms on your person. Switching duty weapons means another 4-hour class, another certificate, and another annual requalification line item.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about Florida licensing requirements and is not legal advice. Statutes, administrative rules, forms, and fees change. Verify all current requirements directly with the FDACS Division of Licensing before submitting an application or relying on any deadline described here.