Update (October 2026): This post was written in 2016 and has been corrected. Senate Bill 228 did not repeal Florida’s 10-20-Life law. It removed aggravated assault from the list of offenses the law covers. The mandatory minimum sentences still apply to the other listed felonies.
In 2016, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 228, which narrowed the rigid Florida 10-20-Life law. The law was a longtime target of criticism for its strict and often excessive mandatory minimum sentencing in criminal cases involving guns. It tied judges’ hands when it came to sentencing.
What is the 10-20-Life law?
Florida enacted its 10-20-Life law [Florida Statute § 775.087] in 1999 to reduce gun crimes in the state. For certain listed felonies, it requires judges to sentence defendants to a minimum of:
- 10 years if they possessed a gun during the crime
- 20 years if they fired a gun (even if it was a warning shot and nobody sustained injury)
- 25 years to life if they shot and killed or seriously injured someone
Greg Newburn, the state policy director for Families against Mandatory Minimums, pointed out the disadvantages of the law: “Unintended consequences are inherent to mandatory minimums. No one anticipated 10-20-Life would be used to put citizens in prison for 20 years for warning shots, but that’s exactly what happened.”
By 2016, the state had sentenced over 15,000 people under the law, reported the Miami Herald. Case in point: Orville Lee Wollard III received a 20-year prison term in 2008 after firing a warning shot inside his home to ward off his daughter’s boyfriend. The 10-20-Life law required the judge to impose that sentence.
What did the 2016 law change?
Senate Bill 228 removed aggravated assault from the list of offenses covered by 10-20-Life, effective July 1, 2016. A person convicted of aggravated assault with a firearm, the charge most often involved in warning-shot cases, no longer faces an automatic minimum sentence, and the judge can use discretion.
The mandatory minimums still apply to the other listed felonies, including murder, sexual battery, robbery, burglary, arson, aggravated battery, kidnapping, carjacking, home-invasion robbery, aggravated stalking, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a three-year minimum when the person actually possessed the gun.
The 2016 law was not retroactive. People already serving sentences under the old law did not benefit from the change.
If you need legal counsel or help fighting gun charges in St. Petersburg, contact us at Goldman Wetzel by calling 727-828-3900 to schedule a one-on-one free consultation.