Louisiana Gun Laws: Concealed Carry, Open Carry and Buying a Gun

Yes. Since July 4, 2024, the ban on carrying a concealed firearm does not apply to any person who is eighteen years of age or older and is not prohibited from possessing a firearm under R.S. 14:95.1 (felons), 18 U.S.C. 922(g), or any other state or federal law. A person carrying this way is deemed to certify that he meets those conditions, may not carry while under the influence (blood alcohol of .05 percent or more, or any confirmed controlled dangerous substance), must tell an officer who approaches in an official manner that he is armed and allow a pat-down and temporary disarming, and is subject to the same place restrictions as permit holders.

Concealed handgun permit, issued by the deputy secretary of public safety services of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (Louisiana State Police Concealed Handgun Permit Unit). Shall-issue: the deputy secretary 'shall issue timely and without delay' a permit to all qualified applicants. Applicant must be twenty-one years of age or older and must demonstrate competence with a handgun through an approved course (for example an NRA, USCCA or state-approved course within the preceding twelve months, a POST academy, or military small-arms training); courses must include child access prevention, a shooting-proficiency demonstration and safe handling. Term is five years at twenty-five dollars per year; a lifetime permit is also available (prepaying twenty years of the yearly fee, or ten years if sixty-five or older). LSP lists fees of $125.00 (5-year resident) and $500.00 (lifetime resident), half price for applicants 65+ or on active duty; honorably discharged veterans are exempt from fees.

Louisiana's illegal-carrying statute targets the intentional concealment of a firearm; it does not require a permit to carry a firearm openly. The place-based bans in the same statute apply to possession of a dangerous weapon whether open or concealed: on a school campus during school hours or on a school bus, and in a law enforcement building, detention facility, courthouse or courtroom, and the state capitol. Possessing a firearm on the premises of a bar or other alcoholic beverage outlet is also a crime (exception for permit holders and lawful permitless carriers in Class A-Restaurant premises). A person under eighteen may not knowingly possess a handgun except in listed situations (hunting, ranges, safety courses, at home or with written parental permission).

It is a crime to sell or otherwise deliver for value any firearm to any person under the age of eighteen (lack of knowledge of the minor's age is not a defense); this applies to any seller, not only dealers. A person under eighteen may not knowingly possess a handgun on his person, with exceptions for safety courses, target ranges, licensed hunting or trapping, travel to and from those activities with an unloaded gun, property with parental and owner permission, at home with parental permission, or with written parental permission carried on the person.

Louisiana law does not require a background check, permit or license for private (non-dealer) sales. A current Louisiana concealed handgun permit counts as the federal background check for dealer sales under 18 U.S.C. 922(t) if the ATF has granted the waiver; using a suspended or revoked permit to buy from a dealer is punishable by up to $500 and six months.

Louisiana has no state law that sets a waiting period between buying a firearm and taking delivery.

Louisiana has no state law that sets up extreme risk protection orders (red flag orders). Separately, a person subject to certain domestic abuse protective orders may not possess a firearm while the order is in effect.

Louisiana has no state law that bans assault weapons or limits magazine capacity. State law does make it a crime to manufacture, transfer or possess a machine gun, except as listed (for example items registered under federal law).

Because anyone eighteen or older who may legally possess a firearm may carry a concealed handgun without a permit (since July 4, 2024), such a person may keep a handgun concealed in a vehicle; no state rule requiring it to be unloaded or locked was found. The school firearm-free-zone law exempts a firearm contained entirely within a motor vehicle. Permit holders and permitless carriers must tell an officer who approaches in an official manner that they are armed.

Louisiana honors a current and valid concealed handgun permit issued by another state to a person aged twenty-one or older if a Louisiana permit is valid in that state; another state's permit is not valid for a Louisiana resident. Louisiana State Police lists 37 states with mutual recognition: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Visitors eighteen or older who may legally possess a firearm can also carry concealed without a permit under the permitless-carry law.

Permit holders and permitless carriers may not carry a concealed handgun in: a law enforcement office, station or building; a detention facility, prison or jail; a courthouse or courtroom (a judge may carry in his own courtroom); a polling place; a municipal or other public building used as the meeting place of a political subdivision's governing authority; the state capitol; areas of an airport where federal law bans firearms; a church, synagogue, mosque or similar place of worship unless authorized by its administrator; a permitted parade or demonstration (for active participants); the permitted area of a business with a Class A-General retail permit to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption; and any school, school campus or school bus. Private property owners may prohibit carrying, and a person may not carry into another's private residence without consent. Firearms are also banned on school property, at school-sponsored functions and within 1,000 feet of a school campus (the 1,000-foot zone exempts permit holders and permitless carriers carrying concealed, private property and firearms entirely inside a vehicle).

Louisiana has no state law that requires serial numbers on, or bans, homemade or unserialized firearms or firearm kits. It is a crime to possess, carry, buy, sell or transport a firearm whose serial number has been obliterated, but that rule does not apply to a firearm originally manufactured without a number.