Is Louisiana an Open Carry State? Rules and Restricted Places

Yes, Louisiana is an open carry state, and it has been for a long time. Anyone 18 or older who is legally allowed to possess a firearm can carry a handgun openly in Louisiana without a permit, and since July 4, 2024, the same group can also carry concealed without a permit. Open carry has never required a license here. What changed in 2024 is that concealed carry joined it. The rules below cover who qualifies, where firearms are still off-limits, and what you have to do if a police officer approaches you while you’re armed.

Who Can Carry Openly in Louisiana

The baseline rule is simple: if you can legally own a gun, you can carry it openly. You must be at least 18. Under RS 14:95.8, anyone under 18 who knowingly possesses a handgun on their person is committing a crime, with narrow exceptions for hunter safety courses, supervised ranges, hunting, and possession on family property with parental permission.¹

You also cannot be a prohibited person. Louisiana bars firearm possession by anyone convicted of a felony crime of violence, drug trafficking, a sex offense, or certain property crimes like burglary of an inhabited dwelling.² A separate statute, RS 14:95.10, prohibits firearm possession by anyone convicted of domestic abuse battery or a second or subsequent battery of a dating partner.³ Federal law adds more categories, including anyone subject to a qualifying domestic violence protective order and anyone adjudicated as mentally defective.⁴

Visitors From Other States

Because no permit is needed for open carry, visitors from other states can carry openly in Louisiana on the same terms as residents. The test is whether you are legally eligible to possess a firearm. If federal law or Louisiana law would prohibit you, carrying here is still illegal no matter what your home state allows. The 2024 permitless concealed carry provision also applies by its terms to anyone 18 or older who is not prohibited, and it does not limit eligibility to Louisiana residents.⁵

Where You Still Cannot Carry

Open carry rights stop at the door of several locations. Walking into any of these spots with a firearm, openly or concealed, can turn a legal carry into a serious criminal charge.

Schools and the 1,000-Foot Zone Around Them

RS 14:95.6 creates firearm-free zones that cover any school campus, school buses, and the area within 1,000 feet of the campus. “School” includes public and private elementary, secondary, and high schools, as well as colleges, universities, and most vocational-technical schools.⁶ Carrying a firearm in one of these zones is a felony under RS 14:95.2. In a town or city, a 1,000-foot radius can swallow whole neighborhoods, which is one of the main reasons some gun owners still hold a concealed handgun permit.

The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), independently makes it a federal crime to knowingly possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. The federal statute includes an exception for people licensed by the state under a law that requires background verification, and a Louisiana concealed handgun permit qualifies.⁴ Permitless carriers do not get that protection.

Government Buildings

RS 14:95 prohibits firearms in specific government facilities: law enforcement offices and stations, jails and detention centers, courthouses and courtrooms, and the State Capitol.⁷ The list is narrower than most people assume. It does not sweep in every government office, though individual buildings can still exclude firearms by posting notice.

Bars and Restaurants That Serve Alcohol by the Drink

RS 14:95.5 prohibits intentionally possessing a firearm on the premises of any commercial establishment that sells alcoholic beverages by the drink for on-site consumption.⁸ That covers a restaurant with a bar, not just a dedicated bar. A grocery store that sells sealed bottles for off-site consumption generally would not qualify.

Churches and Other Places of Worship

Louisiana does not list places of worship as firearm-free zones the way it does schools. For concealed carry, however, RS 40:1379.3(N)(8) prohibits carrying in a church, synagogue, mosque, or similar place of worship unless the entity with authority over the building authorizes it and the congregation is informed. That restriction applies to permit holders and to those carrying under permitless carry. Open carry on religious property is a question of the owner’s wishes; as private property, a house of worship can exclude firearms by posting notice.

Parades and Public Demonstrations

RS 14:95.2.2 criminalizes reckless or negligent discharge of a firearm within 1,000 feet of any parade, Mardi Gras celebration, or permitted demonstration, with hard-labor penalties and a fine up to $5,000.⁹ Mere possession near a parade is not banned by the statute, but the discharge rule makes these events high-risk environments for anyone carrying.

Private Property

A private property owner or business can bar firearms on their own premises. If you’re asked to leave or to secure your firearm elsewhere, honor that request. Refusing can turn into a trespass charge even if your carry was otherwise lawful.

Firearms in Your Vehicle

Louisiana law protects your ability to keep a firearm in your own vehicle. Under RS 32:292.1, anyone who lawfully possesses a firearm may transport or store it in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle in any parking lot, garage, or designated parking area.¹⁰ An employer cannot flatly ban this, though it can require the firearm be out of sight or in a locked container inside the vehicle.

There is an exception for access-restricted employer lots (fenced, gated, or staffed with security). An employer can prohibit firearms in that kind of lot only by providing a temporary storage facility for unloaded firearms or an alternative nearby parking area where employees can leave firearms in their vehicles. The protection also does not reach company-owned vehicles used for work, unless the employee’s duties require transporting a firearm.

What to Do When a Police Officer Approaches You

This is the single most important rule for permitless carriers. RS 40:1379.3(I)(2) requires anyone carrying a handgun, whether under a permit or under the permitless carry provision, to immediately notify any police officer who approaches them in an official capacity that they are armed. You must submit to a pat-down and allow the officer to temporarily disarm you.¹¹ For permit holders, failing to notify triggers an automatic six-month suspension of the permit.

Separately, Louisiana’s stop-and-identify rule lets an officer who reasonably suspects criminal activity stop a person and demand their name, address, and an explanation of their actions.¹² Open carrying by itself is legal and does not create reasonable suspicion. Even so, encounters with armed citizens can escalate fast. Keep your hands visible, move slowly, and say out loud that you are legally carrying before you do anything else.

Can Cities Pass Stricter Gun Rules?

Mostly no. RS 40:1796 establishes statewide preemption: no parish, municipality, or other political subdivision may enact an ordinance, regulation, or policy on firearms that is more restrictive than state law.¹³ Any local ordinance that goes further is void. Political subdivisions can still ban firearms in their own commercial establishments and public buildings as spelled out in RS 40:1379.3(N), and the preemption statute does not touch sales taxes or license fees. But a city cannot create new gun-free zones in parks, ban open carry on public streets, or add ammunition restrictions on its own.

Penalties for Carrying Where You Shouldn’t

A general violation of RS 14:95, such as carrying in a listed government building or on school grounds during school hours, carries a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to six months, or both. Carrying in a firearm-free zone under RS 14:95.2 is a felony with hard-labor imprisonment, and prior violent convictions push the penalty higher. Possessing a firearm on the premises of an alcohol-by-the-drink establishment carries a fine of up to $500, six months, or both.⁸

RS 40:1382 covers negligent carrying of a concealed handgun, meaning carrying it in a way that creates a foreseeable risk of discharge or puts an officer in reasonable apprehension. The penalty is a fine of up to $500, six months in jail, or both, with higher fines inside the French Quarter Management District in New Orleans, where the minimum rises to $500 and the maximum to $1,000.¹⁴ The court can also order forfeiture of the handgun and suspension or revocation of any carry permit.

The heaviest penalty is for prohibited persons. A convicted felon or other prohibited person caught with a firearm under RS 14:95.1 faces ten to twenty years at hard labor without parole, probation, or suspension, plus a fine of up to $5,000.

Do You Still Need a Concealed Handgun Permit?

You don’t need one to carry in Louisiana anymore, but a permit still buys you three things permitless carry does not. First, a Louisiana concealed handgun permit satisfies the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act licensing exception, so you can lawfully pass through the 1,000-foot zone around a school while armed.⁴ Second, Louisiana has reciprocity with numerous states that honor its permit, which matters as soon as you cross a state line.¹¹ Third, a qualifying state-issued permit can substitute for a NICS background check when you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer.¹⁵

One age mismatch to know about: the concealed handgun permit requires applicants to be at least 21, while the permitless carry law sets the floor at 18. Between 18 and 20, you can carry in Louisiana without a permit, but you cannot obtain the permit that unlocks the school-zone and reciprocity benefits.¹⁶

1
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95.8 – Illegal Possession of a Handgun by a Juvenile
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95.1 – Possession of Firearm or Carrying Concealed Weapon by a Person Convicted of Certain Felonies
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95.10 – Possession of a Firearm or Carrying of a Concealed Weapon by a Person Convicted of Domestic Abuse Battery and Certain Offenses of Battery of a Dating Partner
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95 – Illegal Carrying of Weapons
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Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95.6 – Firearm-Free Zone Notice Signs
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Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95 – Illegal Carrying of Weapons
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Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95.5 – Possession of Firearm on Premises of Alcoholic Beverage Outlet
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Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14-95.2.2 – Reckless Discharge of a Firearm at a Parade or Demonstration
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Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 32-292.1 – Transportation and Storage of Firearms in Privately Owned Motor Vehicles
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Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40-1379.3 – Statewide Permits for Concealed Handguns
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Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 215.1 – Temporary Questioning of Persons in Public Places Frisk and Search for Weapons
13
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40-1796 – Preemption of State Law
14
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40-1382 – Negligent Carrying of a Concealed Handgun
15
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Brady Permit Chart
16
Louisiana State Police. CHP Fees