Can You Carry a Gun in New Orleans? Permits, Zones, Penalties

Yes, you can carry a gun in New Orleans. Since July 4, 2024, any person at least 18 years old who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm can carry openly or concealed anywhere in Louisiana without a permit.¹ Louisiana’s preemption statute blocks New Orleans and every other city or parish from imposing stricter firearm rules, so what applies statewide applies in the city.² That broad “yes” has real limits, though: entire categories of people can’t carry at all, and a long list of places remain off-limits regardless of permit status.

Who Is Allowed to Carry

The baseline is age 18 and no legal disqualification. Open carry has long been legal in Louisiana for adults 18 and older, and the 2024 permitless concealed carry law extended that same age threshold to concealed carry.³

Louisiana law bars anyone convicted of a felony classified as a “crime of violence” or certain other serious felonies from possessing a firearm for ten years after completing their sentence, probation, or parole. Violating that ban carries five to twenty years at hard labor and a fine between $1,000 and $5,000.⁴ A person subject to a domestic violence protective order is prohibited from possessing a firearm for the duration of the order, provided the order includes a finding that the person poses a credible threat to a family member, household member, or dating partner.⁵

Federal law adds more disqualifying categories: unlawful users of a controlled substance, people involuntarily committed to a mental institution, those dishonorably discharged from the military, anyone under indictment for a felony, and people who have renounced U.S. citizenship. These federal bars apply everywhere in Louisiana and override permitless carry.

Where You Still Can’t Carry

Permitless carry doesn’t open every door. State law designates a long list of places where firearms are prohibited regardless of permit status:³

Law enforcement offices, stations, and buildings
Jails, prisons, and detention facilities
Courthouses and courtrooms (a judge may carry in their own courtroom)
Polling places
Government meeting places used by any parish or municipal governing authority
The State Capitol building
Airport security zones where firearms are banned under federal law
Places of worship, unless the person in charge of the facility authorizes it
Parades and permitted demonstrations
Any establishment licensed to sell alcohol by the drink for on-premises consumption
Schools, school campuses, and school buses

Schools and the 1,000-Foot Zone

Schools are the strictest zone in the city. Carrying a firearm on any school campus, on school transportation, at a school-sponsored event, or within 1,000 feet of a school campus is a felony punishable by up to five years at hard labor.⁶ With schools scattered throughout New Orleans, those 1,000-foot buffers overlap across much of the city.

There is one exception. If you are carrying concealed under the permitless carry law or you hold a valid Louisiana concealed handgun permit (or a reciprocal state’s permit), you may carry concealed within the 1,000-foot perimeter. You still cannot carry on the school grounds or buses themselves.⁶

Bars and Restaurants That Serve Alcohol

The alcohol prohibition is broader than many people think. It covers any commercial establishment that sells alcohol by the drink for on-premises consumption, regardless of whether alcohol sales are the primary or incidental purpose of the business.³ That reaches bars, nightclubs, and the licensed areas of restaurants that serve drinks. In a city built around nightlife, this restriction covers most of the French Quarter and much of the dining scene beyond it.

Federal Buildings, Post Offices, and National Parks

New Orleans has a heavy federal footprint, and federal law overrides Louisiana’s carry rules on federal property. Bringing a firearm into any federal facility where federal employees regularly work is a federal crime carrying up to one year in prison for a first offense, and up to five years if brought in with intent to use in a crime. Federal courthouses carry up to two years.⁷

Post offices are a flat ban. Federal regulation prohibits carrying a firearm on postal property, openly or concealed, with no exception for state permits or permitless carry.⁸ The parking lot counts.

National parks work differently. In areas administered by the National Park Service, you may possess a firearm if you can lawfully have one and you follow the carry laws of the state where the park sits. Because Louisiana allows permitless carry, that extends to places like Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. You still cannot bring the firearm into any NPS building, including visitor centers, ranger stations, and offices, which remain federal facilities under 18 U.S.C. § 930. Discharging a firearm in a national park is also prohibited unless hunting is specifically authorized.⁹

Private Property and Posted Signs

A property owner, business lessee, or anyone else lawfully in charge of a property can prohibit firearms on the premises. The concealed carry statute states explicitly that nothing in the law limits a property owner’s right to restrict access by people carrying, whether under a permit or under permitless carry.³ You also cannot carry a concealed handgun into someone else’s home without their consent.

Louisiana does not give “no firearms” signs on private businesses independent criminal force the way some states do. But ignoring a sign and refusing to leave when asked can bring criminal trespass charges. Once you know firearms are not welcome, the safe move is to comply or leave.

When You Can Actually Use the Gun

Carrying is one question; using the firearm is another. Louisiana is a stand-your-ground state. You have no duty to retreat before using force if you are in a place where you have a right to be and you are not engaged in unlawful activity.¹⁰

Deadly force is justified when you reasonably believe you are in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that killing is necessary to save yourself. It is also justified to prevent a violent felony that threatens someone’s life, or against a person you reasonably believe is attempting to commit a burglary or robbery of your home, business, or occupied vehicle.¹⁰

Louisiana’s castle doctrine reaches beyond the home. If you are lawfully inside a dwelling, place of business, or motor vehicle when someone is unlawfully and forcibly entering or has already entered, the law presumes your belief that deadly force was necessary. The prosecution then has to prove you were unreasonable, rather than you having to prove you were justified.¹⁰ The entry has to be both unlawful and forcible for that presumption to kick in. If a court finds you acted in self-defense under the law, you also cannot be held civilly liable for the harm caused.

Penalties for Illegal Carry

The penalties for illegal carrying of a weapon escalate hard with each offense:¹¹

First offense (misdemeanor): up to a $500 fine, up to six months in jail, or both.
Second offense: up to five years of imprisonment.
Third and subsequent offenses (felony): up to ten years of imprisonment, served without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Carrying a firearm during a violent crime or while unlawfully possessing or distributing a controlled substance triggers a separate felony on top of the underlying charge. That additional count carries a fine of up to $10,000 and five to ten years without parole. A second or subsequent conviction under that provision carries twenty to thirty years.¹¹

School-zone violations are prosecuted separately and carry up to five years at hard labor. If the firearm is used in a violent crime on school property, the sentence is one to five years plus a fine of up to $2,000, and it runs consecutively with any sentence for the underlying offense.⁶

Why Get a Concealed Handgun Permit Anyway

With permitless carry on the books, some people assume the state permit is pointless. It isn’t. Louisiana still issues Concealed Handgun Permits, and the biggest reason to hold one is reciprocity. The Louisiana permit is honored in roughly 38 states, including most of the South and Midwest. Without a permit, your right to carry concealed ends at the state line. States that do not recognize Louisiana permits include California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Hawaii, Delaware, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island.¹²

The permit carries a practical edge within Louisiana too. In a traffic stop or similar encounter, producing a permit signals that you cleared a background check and completed a safety course, which can smooth the interaction. To qualify, you must be at least 21, a Louisiana resident, and have completed a nine-hour firearm safety course from an instructor approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.³

1
nola.gov. NOPD Chapter 1.25 – Enforcing Firearms Laws
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1796 – Preemption of State Law
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:1379.3 – Statewide Permits for Concealed Handguns
4
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 14:95.1 – Possession of Firearm or Carrying Concealed Weapon by a Person Convicted of Certain Felonies
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 46:2136.3 – Prohibition on the Possession of Firearms by a Person Against Whom a Protective Order Is Issued
6
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 14:95.2 – Carrying a Firearm or Dangerous Weapon on School Property, at School-Sponsored Functions, or in a Firearm-Free Zone
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
8
eCFR. 39 CFR 232.1 – Conduct on Postal Property
9
National Park Service. Firearms in National Parks
10
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 14:20 – Justifiable Homicide
11
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 14:95 – Illegal Carrying of Weapons
12
Louisiana State Police. Reciprocity