Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam today announced that the 50th concealed weapon permit partnership with county tax collectors’ offices will go live Friday, Oct. 27. With the addition of the Franklin County Tax Collector’s Office, Florida residents can now apply for or renew concealed weapon licenses at 57 tax collector office locations in 50 counties.
“We’re dedicated to making our concealed weapon license application and renewal process as convenient as possible for law-abiding citizens,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam. “By partnering with county tax collectors, we’re increasing efficiency while enhancing customer service.”
In 2014, Commissioner Putnam implemented this first-of-its-kind partnership, which allows tax collectors to receive applications, take fingerprints and photographs and send the information to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to process the request for a concealed weapon license. Tax collector offices also offer on-site, same-day printing of renewal licenses for Floridians.
The convenience of applying at a tax collector’s office does not affect the integrity of the concealed weapon license program. Since the partnership with tax collectors began, more than 217,000 concealed weapon license applications have been accepted by tax collector offices. There are currently more than 1.8 million concealed weapon licenses.
The 50 tax collectors participating in both the application and renewal process for concealed weapon licenses include the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gulf, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Walton, Wakulla and Washington.
Consumers can still apply for or renew a concealed weapon license via mail or at one of the department’s eight regional offices in the following locations: Doral, Fort Walton, Jacksonville, North Port, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach. Concealed weapon licenses are valid for seven years.
For more information on Florida concealed weapon licenses, visit FreshFromFlorida.com.