blackpowder pistols

Question
ok i am going to buy a 1851 Navy Confederate .44 Caliber Revolver and its blackpowder i live in Florida and i was wonderin it i could conceal that beast is it illegal because has far as i know its not consider a firearm

     thanks much Kyle

Answer
Blackpowder guns are certainly considered firearms although different laws may apply to them than other types of firearms. The laws vary from state to state and they change often. I don't live in Florida so I can't advise you on Florida law but here is a good link where you can lookup your state laws on the web:

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/statelaws/22edition.htm

Even if it is legal for you to carry the blackpowder pistol I would not recommend it. They are far too large and heavy to conceal and you will get tired of lugging all that weight around. Plus most models would rust or wear quickly since they were not designed for continuous carry. And then your powder charges would be likely to get damp over time making them less reliably and possibly leading to dangerous misfires or hangfires. And most blackpowder guns are not safe to carry with the cylinders capped so you couldn't easily draw and fire it anyway without stopping to cap the cylinders first, assuming you even had the primer caps with you to start. And if by some miracle you did get the gun out, capped, and ready while under attack, you would still need to manually cock it before it could be fired. It just isn't practical. You would be better off using the thing as a club, or carrying some other legal weapon such as a knife, mace, stun gun, etc.

Good luck!

Bob