Louisiana Gun Laws/Restrictions

Code Sections

14:95.1; 40:1751, et seq.

Types of Illegal Firearms

Possession, sale, transfer, or manufacture of the below firearms is illegal:

• Machine and submachine guns
• Firearms with an altered, or removed, serial mark or identification number.

Waiting Period Before Purchase

• None

Who May Not Own Guns

Louisiana prohibits several different categories of individuals from owning or possessing pistols:

• Those convicted of certain felonies (murder, manslaughter, aggravated battery, violating uniform controlled substances law, etc.)
• Those convicted of crime of violence (felony burglary, felony illegal use of weapons) or crime defined as sex offense, or an attempt to commit these crimes.

Laws Prohibiting Firearms On or Near School Grounds

• Misdemeanor or Felony. 14:95.6; 114:95.2

It is lawful for any person residing in this state to purchase or otherwise obtain a rifle or shotgun or ammunition in any state, contiguous or non-contiguous to this state and to receive or transport such rifle or shotgun or ammunition into this state, and to permit any person residing in a contiguous or non-contiguous state to purchase shotguns, rifles or ammunition in this state provided that the purchase of said rifle or shotgun complies with Louisiana law, the law of the other state involved in the purchase and federal law.

• Machine and submachine guns
• Firearms with an altered, or removed, serial mark or identification number.

State Statute or Definition: (Title 14 §2 Dangerous weapon definition, but legal.)

• No restrictions

No state permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun, or a handgun. It is unlawful for anyone who has been convicted of certain crimes of violence to possess a firearm for a period of ten years from the date of completion of the sentence, probation, parole or suspension of sentence. It is unlawful for any person under seventeen to possess a handgun on his person, but this does not apply to any person under seventeen who is attending a hunter’s safety or firearms safety course; engaging in practice in the use of a firearm or target shooting at an established range; hunting or trapping pursuant to a valid license; or traveling to or from one of the above activities; or has the written permission of parents or legal guardian.

The state of Louisiana recognizes open carry.

No person shall carry a concealed firearm intentionally without a permit unless one is a peace officer in performance of his or her official duties. The Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Services of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall issue a concealed handgun permit to any citizen who qualifies for a permit. Any information in any application for a concealed handgun permit shall be held confidential and shall not be subject to any public records request.

To qualify, a citizen shall:

• demonstrate competency with a handgun by completion of certain approved courses, classes, and programs in firearms safety and training;
• agree to hold harmless and indemnify the department, the state or any peace officer for any liability arising from the issuance of the permit;
• be a resident of the state and have been a resident for six months or longer;
• be at least 21;
• not suffer from a mental or physical infirmity due to disease, illness or retardation which prevents the safe handling of a handgun;
• not have been committed for the abuse of a controlled substance, or been found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere relating to a controlled substance within 5 years;
• not chronically and habitually use alcoholic beverages to the extent that normal facilities are impaired;
• not have entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to or been found guilty of a misdemeanor crime of violence within 5 years of completion of sentence;
• not have been convicted of, entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, or not be charged under indictment, or a bill of information for any crime of violence or any crime punishable by imprisonment for one year or more;
• not have a history of engaging in violent behavior;
• not be otherwise ineligible to possess a firearm under federal law.

All applicants shall submit with the application a non-refundable $125 fee in the form of a cashier’s check, certified check or money order. A permit is valid for 5 years. Applicants that are age 65 or older pay $62.50. The Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Services shall, within two working days of the permit application, notify the Chief of Police of the municipality and the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the parish in which the applicant is domiciled of such application. Those officers shall have 10 days to forward to the Deputy Secretary, information relating to the applicant’s legal qualification to receive a permit. The Deputy Secretary, in a timely manner, shall issue the permit to all qualified applicants. The permit shall be valid in all parishes statewide.

All applicants shall submit with the application a non-refundable $100 fee in the form of a certified check or money order for a four-year concealed handgun permit or a $50 fee for the two-year concealed handgun permit. Applicants that are age 65 or older pay one half of this amount. Any applicant that has not continuously resided within the state of Louisiana for the 15 years immediately preceding the date on which their application is received must enclose an additional non-refundable $50 fee. A permittee wishing to renew his concealed handgun permit shall file a renewal application no more than 120 days prior to the expiration of the permit and no later than the 60th day after expiration.

A permittee may not carry a concealed handgun into:

• a law enforcement building, detention facility, prison or jail,
• a courthouse or courtroom, meeting place of the governing authority of a political subdivision, the state capitol building, or a polling place,
• any portion of an airport facility where the carrying of firearms is prohibited under federal law,
• any church or similar place of worship,
• a parade or demonstration for which a permit is issued,
• any portion of a permitted area where alcoholic beverages are sold for on-premises consumption,
• any school “firearm-free-zone", or in any facility, building, location, zone or area in which firearms are banned by state or federal law.

A property owner may prohibit access to his property by persons possessing concealed handguns. A permittee may not carry a concealed handgun into a private residence of another without first receiving the consent of that person.

A permittee shall retain and carry his permit on his person when actually carrying and concealing a handgun. A permittee armed with a handgun shall notify any police officer who approaches the permittee in an official manner or purpose, that he has a weapon on his person, submit to a pat down, and allow the officer to temporarily disarm him. Whenever a law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe an armed permittee is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance, the officer may take temporary possession of the handgun and request submission to a chemical test. Whenever an officer is made aware that an individual is behaving in a criminally negligent manner, or is negligent in carrying a handgun, the officer may seize the handgun until adjudication by a judge. Failure to comply with these provisions shall result in a six-month automatic suspension of the permit.

Lawfully possessed firearms may be transported or stored in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle in any parking lot, parking garage, or other designated parking area. Employers or business entities may adopt policies specifying that locked firearms on property under their control be hidden from plain view or within a locked case or container within the vehicle. This does not apply to property where the possession of firearm is prohibited under state or federal law, or in vehicles owned or leased by a public or private employer used by an employee in the course of his employment, or on property where access to the parking area is restricted or limited to the general public by a fence, gate, signage or other means if the employer or business entity provides facilities for the temporary storage of unloaded firearms or an alternative parking area reasonably close to the main parking area in which employees and other persons may store firearms within their vehicles.

Louisiana statutes are silent on antique and replica firearms. They are treated as ordinary firearms for possession, sale, and carrying purposes.

No governing authority of a political subdivision shall enact after July 15, 1985, any ordinance or regulation more restrictive than state law concerning in any way the sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transfer, transportation, license, use, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition. Local ordinances enacted before 1985 still apply.

The governing authority of any political subdivision or local or other governmental authority of the state is preempted from bringing suit to recover against any firearms or ammunition manufacturer, trade association, or dealer for damages for injury, death, or loss or to seek other injunctive relief resulting from or relating to the lawful design, manufacture, marketing, or sale of firearms or ammunition. The authority to bring such actions as may be authorized by law shall be reserved exclusively to the state.

It is unlawful to obliterate, remove, change, or alter numbers or marks of identification on any firearm. No person shall intentionally receive, possess, carry, conceal, buy, sell, or transport any firearm which has been illegally obtained or from which the serial number or mark of identification has been obliterated. This shall not apply to any firearm which is an antique or war relic and is inoperable or for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the U.S. and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade, or which was originally manufactured without such a number.

No person shall import, manufacture, sell, purchase, possess, or transfer, any bullet that has a steel inner core or core of equivalent density and hardness, truncated cone, and is designed for use in a handgun as a body armor or metal piercing bullet, or which has been primarily manufactured or designed by nature of its shape, cross-sectional density, or any coating applied thereto, to breach or penetrate body armor when fired from a handgun.

No political subdivision of the state may regulate in any manner, firearms or ammunition, unless otherwise allowed for in state law.

LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 1796 Preemption of state law

No governing authority of a political subdivision shall enact after July 15, 1985, any ordinance or regulation more restrictive than state law concerning in any way the sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transfer, transportation, license, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition; provided, however, that this Section shall not apply to the levy and collection of sales and use taxes, license fees and taxes and permit fees, nor shall it affect the authority of political subdivisions to prohibit the possession of a weapon or firearm in certain commercial establishments and public buildings.

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 14:91, 14:95; 14:95.1-8; 32:292.1, 40:1379.3; 40:1752-1754; 40:1781; 40:1796; 40:1799; 40:1803; 40:1810-1812