Is Concealed Carry Insurance Worth It?

The Shooting May Last Seconds.
The Legal Aftermath Can Last Years.

A defensive shooting may last only seconds. The investigation, prosecution, and financial consequences can continue for years. That raises an important question for every armed citizen: Is concealed carry insurance worth it?

Florida cases show that even a person who is ultimately found not guilty may be arrested, held on a substantial bond, denied Stand Your Ground immunity, taken through an appeal, and required to defend a homicide charge before a jury. A self-defense legal protection plan cannot guarantee an acquittal. It may, however, provide the financial resources needed to present a complete defense.

Disclosure: I personally maintain coverage through Firearms Legal Protection. I am authorized through the company to refer this product in Florida. I receive a referral fee when someone enrolls through my link, and the company provides my personal coverage at no charge. Coverage is governed by the applicable policy and the facts of each incident. Neither I nor CCW Training Academy can guarantee that a claim will be accepted or that a criminal or civil case will have a favorable outcome.

How Much Can a Defensive Shooting Cost?

There is no standard price for defending a self-defense shooting. The cost depends on whether the incident ends after an initial investigation or proceeds through arrest, bond hearings, a Stand Your Ground immunity hearing, expert testimony, an appeal, a criminal trial, and possibly a separate civil lawsuit.

Attorney fees may be only one part of the expense. A serious defense may also require investigators, forensic experts, use-of-force experts, depositions, transcripts, demonstrative evidence, travel, and time away from work.

A person who believes the shooting was justified may still face all of the following:

• • Detention, questioning, and arrest.

• • A substantial bond and the possible need for collateral.

• • Loss of the firearm as evidence.

• • A criminal investigation lasting months or years.

• • A Stand Your Ground immunity hearing.

• • Expert-witness and private-investigator expenses.

• • A criminal trial for murder or manslaughter.

• • An appeal or separate civil lawsuit.

The following cases do not establish what every defensive shooting will cost. They demonstrate how quickly the legal and financial consequences can grow when prosecutors challenge a claim of lawful self-defense.

A Florida Man Was Acquitted
After More Than $250,000 in Legal Fees

In October 2019, James Dwight Edwards became involved in a confrontation with his fiancée’s adult son at their Alachua County home. The younger man had taken Edwards’ car, damaged it in a hit-and-run crash, and returned to the residence. An argument and physical confrontation followed. Edwards shot and killed him at close range.

Edwards said he had been attacked and feared for his life. Authorities did not simply accept that explanation. He was arrested on a second-degree murder charge, and his bond was initially set at $1 million. By the time the case reached the appellate court, he was facing a manslaughter charge.

Edwards asked the trial court to dismiss the prosecution under Florida’s self-defense immunity law. The trial judge denied the motion. His lawyers then sought review from Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. A divided appellate panel allowed the prosecution to continue, although the dissenting judge believed that Edwards was entitled to immunity.

This is an important point. A person can have facts that support a self-defense argument and still lose the pretrial immunity hearing. Losing that hearing does not automatically mean the person is guilty. It means the person may still have to defend the charge at trial.

After more than three years of legal proceedings, a jury found Edwards not guilty of all charges.

$250,350.00 Legal fees reportedly covered
by his self-defense protection benefit

Mr. Edwards did have concealed carry insurance. The amount above comes from the legal-protection provider’s published case summary. It is not an independently audited court accounting, and the public information does not reveal every personal expense Edwards may have incurred. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the possible cost of a defense involving an arrest, a seven-figure bond, an immunity hearing, an appellate proceeding, and a homicide trial.

The plan did not guarantee his acquittal. His attorneys still had to investigate the evidence, challenge the prosecution’s version of events, prepare the self-defense case, and persuade a jury. The financial benefit gave him the ability to continue defending himself through the entire process.

Without the assistance of concealed carry insurance, a defendant may have to use retirement savings, borrow against a home, ask relatives for money, depend on public donations, rely on appointed counsel if eligible, or consider a plea agreement partly because the cost of continuing the fight has become overwhelming.

Review Firearms Legal Protection PlansI receive a referral fee when someone enrolls through this link, and Firearms Legal Protection provides my personal coverage at no charge.

An Acquittal Does Not
Necessarily Prevent Financial Damage

 

 

George Zimmerman. Seminole County Sheriff’s Office booking photograph. Public-domain Florida government record. Image and licensing information.

George Zimmerman was prosecuted in Seminole County following the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman claimed that he fired in self-defense. In July 2013, a jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder and not guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter.

The verdict ended the criminal prosecution, but it did not make the cost of the defense disappear.

After the trial, Zimmerman’s attorney said the defense intended to seek approximately $200,000 to $300,000 in reimbursable case expenses. Those expenses reportedly included experts, depositions, travel, transcripts, copying, and trial-presentation costs. The estimate did not include private attorney fees, which were the largest category of expense.

Public donations helped pay some expenses, and Florida law allowed an acquitted defendant to seek reimbursement of certain costs. The available reporting does not establish one reliable number for the total defense bill, the amount Zimmerman personally paid, or whether he had any type of self-defense concealed carry insurance for legal protection.

That uncertainty is itself part of the lesson. A not-guilty verdict does not mean that the defense was free. A person may prevail in court and still emerge with depleted savings, debt, damaged employment, lost income, and years of disruption to normal life.

A Florida Parking-Lot Shooting Ended
With a 20-Year Prison Sentence

 

 

Michael Drejka. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office booking photograph. Public-domain Florida government record. Image and licensing information.

The Michael Drejka case demonstrates a different and equally important lesson: legal protection may help finance a defense, but it cannot make an unjustified shooting lawful.

In July 2018, Drejka confronted a woman about her vehicle being parked in an accessible parking space outside a Clearwater convenience store. Her partner, Markeis McGlockton, came out of the store and forcefully pushed Drejka to the ground.

Drejka drew a handgun and fired one shot, killing McGlockton. Drejka said he feared for his life. Surveillance video and eyewitness testimony showed McGlockton moving backward after the shove. The jury rejected Drejka’s self-defense claim and found him guilty of manslaughter.

The judge sentenced Drejka to 20 years in prison. Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal later affirmed both the conviction and the sentence.

I found no reliable public documentation establishing whether Drejka had a self-defense concealed carry insurance legal protection plan or what his defense cost. It would therefore be inaccurate to describe him as uninsured or to assign a dollar amount to his legal bills.

It would also be wrong to suggest that insurance would necessarily have changed the verdict. The decisive issue was whether deadly force was legally justified at the moment Drejka fired. A protection plan may provide attorneys, investigators, experts, and financial benefits. It cannot change recorded video, alter the law, or require a jury to accept a self-defense claim.

What Concealed Carry Insurance Can and Cannot Do

The term concealed carry insurance is commonly used by consumers, although products in this field may be structured differently from one state or provider to another. Some are insurance policies, while others are prepaid legal-service memberships or combinations of legal services and insurance benefits.

A self-defense legal protection plan may help with covered expenses such as criminal-defense attorney fees, civil-defense attorney fees, investigators, expert witnesses, or bail-related costs. The exact benefits depend entirely on the selected plan and governing documents.

No plan can guarantee a favorable outcome. Legal protection cannot guarantee that you will not be detained, arrested, charged, sued, convicted, or required to pay expenses that fall outside the policy. It cannot turn an unlawful use of force into lawful self-defense.

Training and Legal Protection
Serve Different Purposes

Training is intended to help prevent a bad decision before it happens. It should help the armed citizen understand when deadly force may be legally justified, when disengagement is possible, how to avoid unnecessary confrontations, and why the justification must exist at the exact moment the trigger is pressed.

Legal protection is intended to help the person survive the justice system after an incident has already occurred.

One cannot replace the other. A person with excellent legal protection can still be convicted if the shooting was unlawful. A person who acted lawfully can still face financial devastation if there is no practical way to pay for a complete defense.

Is Concealed Carry Insurance Required in Florida?

Self-defense legal protection is not legally required for carrying a firearm in Florida. I do not present it as a government mandate.

For someone who regularly carries a firearm and could not personally finance a serious criminal defense, however, I consider it a practical necessity. The need is similar to the need for competent training, a safe holster, secure firearm storage, and a plan for contacting an attorney after a critical incident.

The question is not whether you expect to shoot someone. Responsible people hope they never have to use a firearm defensively. The question is whether you have a realistic plan for obtaining qualified legal representation if an incident occurs despite your efforts to avoid it.

What Should You Compare Before Choosing a Plan?

Do not select a plan based only on a low monthly price or a dramatic advertising claim. Read the current policy or membership documents and determine:

• • Whether covered attorney fees are paid directly or reimbursed after you pay them.

• • Whether criminal and civil defense are both included.

• • Whether investigators and expert witnesses are included and subject to limits.

• • Whether bail-related benefits are included.

• • Whether coverage applies only in your home state or in other states.

• • How an attorney is selected and whether you may choose your own attorney.

• • What family members, weapons, and locations are included.

• • What exclusions, conditions, waiting periods, or repayment provisions apply.

• • What happens if prosecutors allege that the act was intentional, criminal, or not legally justified.

The provider’s current policy documents control. A general article, sales page, instructor explanation, or verbal conversation should never be treated as a substitute for the policy itself.

My Recommendation

I personally maintain coverage through Firearms Legal Protection, and it is the company I recommend that my students and readers consider. I am not claiming that it is the only product available or that it will be the right choice for every person.

You will want to review the current plans, prices, benefits, limits, exclusions, and governing policy documents before enrolling. Direct questions about coverage to Firearms Legal Protection so that you receive an answer based on the current product rather than a general explanation from an instructor or affiliate.

My financial relationship with the company: Firearms Legal Protection arranged and paid for the Florida licensing and fingerprinting required for me to participate in its referral program. I receive a referral fee when someone enrolls through my link, and the company provides my personal coverage at no charge. I am disclosing that relationship so you can consider it when evaluating my recommendation.

See Current Plans, Benefits, and PricingEnrollment and coverage are subject to Firearms Legal Protection’s current terms, conditions, eligibility requirements, limits, and exclusions.

The Time to Prepare Is Before the Incident

No one purchases self-defense legal protection because they want to shoot someone. The purpose is to prepare for the legal and financial consequences of an event that everyone hopes will never occur.

The time to arrange qualified legal protection is before an incident, not while sitting in an interview room, trying to locate an attorney, and wondering how much of your family’s savings will be required to defend your freedom.

A firearm can help you survive a violent encounter. Sound judgment and training may help you avoid making a legally disastrous decision. A carefully selected legal protection plan may help you survive what comes afterward. 

Important notice: This article provides general educational information and is not legal advice, a coverage determination, or a guarantee of benefits. Coverage decisions are made by the provider under the applicable policy and the facts of the incident. Neither Alan B. Densky nor CCW Training Academy can guarantee claim acceptance, payment of expenses, selection of counsel, or the outcome of any criminal or civil proceeding. Consult a qualified Florida attorney for legal advice and contact Firearms Legal Protection directly for questions about its policy.

About the Author:

Alan B. Densky is a former deputy sheriff and an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, NRA Certified Nationwide CCW Instructor, NRA Certified Home Firearms Safety Instructor, and NRA Certified Range Safety Officer. He provides calm, structured firearms and civilian self-defense training through CCW Training Academy in North Central Florida.

Last reviewed: July 27, 2026

Sources and Documentation

1. 1. Initial arrest report and $1 million bond in the James Edwards case.

1. 1. James Dwight Edwards v. State of Florida, First District Court of Appeal.

1. 1. Published case summary reporting the Edwards not-guilty outcome and $250,350 in covered legal fees.

1. 1. Reporting on George Zimmerman’s acquittal and estimated $200,000 to $300,000 in non-attorney defense costs.

1. 1. Michael Drejka v. State of Florida, affirming the manslaughter conviction and 20-year sentence.

1. 1. CCW Instructor referral page for Firearms Legal Protection.

1. 1. Firearms Legal Protection product availability and state classification information.