LOUISIANA State Firearms Laws

LOUISIANA
(As of May, 1995)

PLEASE NOTE: In addition to state laws, the purchase, sale and
(in certain circumstances) the possession and interstate
transportation of firearms are regulated by the Gun Control Act
of 1968 as amended by the Firearms Owners' Protection Act. Also,
cities and localities may have their own firearms ordinances in
addition to federal and state laws. Details may be obtained by
contacting local law enforcement authorities, and by consulting
the State Laws and Published Ordinance--Firearms, available from
the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. 

QUICK REFERENCE CHART

                            Rifles and
                            Shotguns         Handguns
Permit to Purchase          NO               NO
Registration of Firearm     NO               NO
Licensing of Owner          NO               NO
Permit to Carry             NO               YES*

*A permit is required to carry concealed weapons.


STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION

     "The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms shall not
be abridged, but this provision shall not prevent the passage of
laws to prohibit the carrying of weapons concealed on the
person." Article 1, Section 11.


POSSESSION

     No state permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun, or
handgun.
     It is unlawful for any person "to possess a firearm" who has
been convicted of or attempting to commit murder, manslaughter,
burglary, rape, robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated
kidnapping, aggravated arson, or any violation of the Uniform
Controlled Dangerous Substances law that is a felony.
     This prohibition shall not apply to any person who has not
been convicted of any felony for a period of 10 years from the
date of completion of sentence, probation, parole, or suspension
of sentence. Upon completion of sentence, probation, parole, or
suspension of sentence,  the convicted person shall have the
right to apply to the sheriff of the parish in which he resides,
or in the case of Orleans parish, the superintendent of police,
for a permit to possess firearms. The convicted person shall be
entitled to possess the firearm upon the issuing of the permit.


PURCHASE

     No state permit is required for the purchase of a rifle,
shotgun, or handgun.
     It is unlawful to sell firearms to minors. "Unlawful sales
to minors is the selling or otherwise delivery for value by
anyone over the age of seventeen of any firearm or other
instrumentality customarily used as a dangerous weapon, to any
person under the age of eighteen. Lack of knowledge of the
minor's age shall not be a defense."


CARRYING

     "Illegal carrying of a weapon is: (1) The intentional
concealment of any firearm ... on one's person; or (2) The
ownership, possession, custody or use of any firearm . . . at any
time by an enemy alien . . ."
     It is lawful to carry a firearm provided it is not
concealed. A firearm in a holster is not concealed. It is lawful
to carry a handgun in the glove compartment of a motor vehicle.
The law makes no exception for carrying a firearm concealed "on
one's person" even in the home.
     Convicted felons who are not allowed to possess a firearm
(see POSSESSION) and who "carry a concealed weapon" are subject
to imprisonment from 3 to 10 years "without the benefit of
probation, parole, or suspension of sentence . . ."
     The prohibition against concealed carrying "shall not apply
to sheriffs and their deputies, state and city police, constables
and town marshals, or persons vested with police power when in
the actual discharge of official duties; or, if not actually
discharging official duties, when such sheriffs and their
deputies, state and city police are full-time, active, and
certified by the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training
and have on their persons valid identification as duly
commissioned law enforcement officers."  Also exempt are persons
who have been issued a permit to carry a concealed handgun by the
chief law enforcement officer of the parish, the deputy secretary
of the Department of Public Safety, or the superintendent of
state police. Such permits are valid for one year.
     The chief law enforcement officer of a parish shall have the
authority to issue a concealed handgun permit to an individual.
He is empowered to require those holding a permit to furnish
proof of their being bonded. The permit shall be valid only
within the boundaries of the issuing officer's parish.
     The superintendent of state police shall have the authority
to grant to an individual a concealed handgun permit. Before the
individual applies he must have been granted a concealed handgun
permit by the chief law enforcement officer of the parish in
which he is officially domiciled. Any individual who receives a
concealed handgun permit from the state police must be bonded and
must adhere to all restrictive stipulations on the permit.
     The deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety and
the chief law enforcement officer of the parish shall have the
authority to issue a concealed handgun permit to any retail or
wholesale merchant or designee. The permit allows the merchant or
any designee to carry a concealed handgun while at his place of
business or while carrying proceeds of that business to and from
the bank within the scope of the business or returning to or from
the completion of said transactions. At all other times such a
permit has no validity.
     The deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety and
the chief law enforcement officer of the parish in which the
merchantŐs business is located shall require any merchant or any
designee possessing a permit to agree to indemnify and hold
harmless the Department of Public Safety and the chief law
enforcement officer of the parish from any and all liability and
to furnish proof of being insured with liability insurance in
such amount as set forth in the regulations adopted and
promulgated by the deputy secretary of the Department of Public
Safety.
     Application for the merchant's permit shall be made at the
office of the chief law enforcement officer of the parish in
which the business is located, and "the chief law enforcement
officer of the parish in which the merchant's business is located
shall issue the permit."
     Carrying or possessing a firearm by a student or nonstudent
on a school bus, school property or within 1,000 feet of any
school is unlawful. The provision of this section shall not apply
to a federal, state, or local law enforcement officer in the
performance of his official duties; a school official or employee
acting during the normal course of his employment or a student
acting under the direction of such school official or employee;
the possession of a firearm occurring within 1,000 feet of school
property and entirely on private property, entirely within a
private residence, or in accordance with a concealed handgun
permit; or any constitutionally protected activity which cannot
be regulated by the state, such as a firearm contained entirely
within a motor vehicle.


MACHINE GUNS

     A machine gun is defined as "all firearms of any caliber,
commonly known as machine rifles, machine guns, and submachine
guns, capable of automatically discharging more than eight
cartridges successively without reloading, in which the
ammunition is fed to the gun from or by means of clips, disks,
belts, or some other separable mechanical device."
     A machine gun is also defined as "any weapon, including a
submachine gun, which shoots or is designed to shoot
automatically more than one shot without manual reloading, by a
single function of the trigger."
     It is lawful for a person to possess a machine gun provided
it is registered with the Department of Public Safety of
Louisiana and provided all federal laws and regulations have been
complied with.
     State law does not require the registration of a machine gun
"which is unserviceable and which is transferred as a curiosity
or ornament."
     Manufacturers or merchants shall not deliver a machine gun
unless the person presents a written permit to purchase and
possess a machine gun signed by the sheriff of the parish in
which the manufacturer or merchant has his place of business or
delivers the machine gun.
     No person shall sell, keep or offer for sale, loan, or give
away, purchase, carry, or transport any machine gun. Exempt from
this prohibition are:
     1. Peace Officers.
     2. The armed forces and members of the armed forces and
National Guard on duty.
     3. "Organizations authorized by law to purchase or receive
machine guns from the United States or from this state" and their
members while on duty.
      4. Manufacturers and merchants of machine guns, and common
carriers transporting machine guns as merchandise.
      5. Employers and employees of guard and messenger services
which transport or guard valuables such as money, bullion, "or
other things of value."
      6. Persons possessing war relics may purchase and possess
machine guns which are relics of any war in which the United
States was involved, may exhibit and carry the machine guns in
the parades of any military organization, and may sell, offer to
sell, loan, or give the machine guns to other persons possessing
war relics.


ANTIQUES AND REPLICAS

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


MISCELLANEOUS

     Any person who uses a firearm at the time he commits or
attempts to commit second degree murder, manslaughter, aggravated
battery, simple kidnapping, aggravated escape, aggravated
burglary, or aggravated arson or attempted aggravated kidnapping
shall, upon conviction, serve a term of two years imprisonment
for the first conviction, and upon conviction for each second and
subsequent offense, five years. The penalty shall be in addition
to any other penalty imposed and shall run consecutively, and
such a person shall serve the additional term without benefit of
parole, probation, suspension of sentence, or credit for good
time, and any adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence
shall not be suspended.
     It is unlawful to obliterate, remove, change, or alter
numbers or marks of identification on any firearm. Possession of
such a firearm "is sufficient evidence to authorize conviction
unless the defendant explains It to the satisfaction of the
court."
     No person shall intentionally receive, possess, carry,
conceal, buy, sell, or transport any firearm 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 governing authority of a political subdivision shall
enact any ordinance or regulation concerning in any way the sale,
purchase, possession, ownership, transfer, transportation,
license, use, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or
components of firearms or ammunition.
     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.


CAUTION: State firearms laws are subject to frequent change.
The above summary is not to be considered as legal advice or
a restatement of law. To determine the applicability of
these laws to specific situations which you may encounter,
you are strongly urged to consult a local attorney.
 
Compiled by:
NRA Institute for Legislative Action
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax. Virginia 22030

Copyright 1995, NRA Institute for Legislative Action