Carry & travel
Should a Michigan CPL Holder Get a Florida Nonresident License?
A second permit only helps if it closes a real gap in where you travel. Here's how to find out, and the catch most people miss.
Ready for the Florida course?
U.S. LawShield Florida CWL Online Training: $74.99, online. In-person live fire is still required separately. The course is training, not a permit.
Should a Michigan CPL holder get a Florida nonresident license?
Only if somewhere you actually go doesn't honor your Michigan CPL but does honor a Florida license held by a nonresident. If your CPL already covers your travel, you don't need it. If you do get one, keep your CPL: Michigan honors a Florida license only when the holder lives in Florida.
People usually ask about this after seeing a big number on a reciprocity map. Florida's list does name 37 states. But the number that matters is smaller and personal: how many of the states you actually enter are covered by the Florida license and not by your CPL.
The catch: six states only honor Florida residents
Florida's own list says six of those 37 states recognize a Florida license only when the holder lives in Florida. As a Michigan resident, you'd be a nonresident holder, so it wouldn't count in these states:
- Colorado
- Maine
- Michigan
- New Hampshire
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
Michigan is on that list. A Florida license does nothing for you at home, so it's an addition to your CPL, never a replacement.
How to check your own route
- 01List every state you enter in a normal year. Include the ones you only drive through, because their laws apply to you while you're there.
- 02Check your CPL against each state's own official source. Use the state's attorney general or state police, not a map you saved years ago. Recognition changes without notice.
- 03Mark the gaps. If there aren't any, stop here. One permit is a perfectly good answer.
- 04Check each gap against the Florida map, with the nonresident setting on. Our Florida page has the map, and it's built from the official list.
- 05Decide whether the gaps are worth it. A license that closes one state you visit every year can be worth it. One that closes a state you might see someday probably isn't.
Check before every trip
What getting one involves
Florida issues to nonresidents through one state agency. The classroom requirement can be completed online, but you also have to demonstrate competency with a firearm in person, and a separate application goes to the state. The course is training. It isn't the license.
See the Florida map and requirements
Check the nonresident map against your route, then read what the course does and doesn't cover.
Florida detailsRelated reading
- Compare every permit course
Who can apply, live fire and cost
- Multi-state permit strategy
Start your Florida training
U.S. LawShield Florida CWL Online Training: $74.99, online. In-person live fire is still required separately. The course is training, not a permit.
Best value: 12 courses, one price
Your permit class covered the basics. Who covered the rest?
Can you say what to do at a traffic stop, where your permit stops counting, and how your firearm must be stored on a road trip? If any of that made you pause, this is your refresher.
$49.99 for all 12, about $4.17 a course
Save at least $59.90 over buying them one at a time at $9.99 each, and Loading & Unloading Handguns is only available here. All 12 are online, 3 to 4 hours in total, on any device, and your progress is saved.
Educational courses from U.S. LawShield. They don't replace your state's licensing requirements.
After the decision
If you carry away from home, who do you call afterward?
Training and permits prepare you for the decision itself. They don't cover what follows a defensive incident, which could happen in a state far from home: investigation, charging decisions, and the civil claim that can arrive much later.
Legal-defense memberships exist for that part. Whether one is worth it to you is a real question, and it's worth understanding before you decide either way.
U.S. LawShield is an independent company. We're one of their instructor partners and may be compensated for referrals.
Sources
- FDACS — Advisory for Citizens Traveling with Firearms (PDF)
Florida's official recognition list and footnotes
- FDACS — Concealed Weapon License Reciprocity
Links to each state's own reciprocity information
- Michigan State Police — Firearms
Last reviewed October 30, 2026. Educational information only. Not legal advice. Firearm laws change, and requirements vary by state, county and issuing authority. Verify current requirements with the issuing authority before you apply.
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