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Louisiana Concealed Carry Permit

Louisiana allows permitless carry for non-prohibited adults 18+. A CHP is still available and is what other states recognize.

Permitless carry is legal in Louisiana

A non-prohibited adult aged 18 or older may carry a concealed handgun without a permit (since 2024). NO PERMIT IS NEEDED TO CARRY A CONCEALED HANDGUN IN LOUISIANA. Anyone 18 or older who is not a prohibited person may carry concealed with no permit, no training, no application, no fee and no residency requirement. The Louisiana permit described in the rest of this record is optional and matters only for reciprocity in other states, the 18 U.S.C. 922(t) NICS purchase exemption, and a few permit-specific privileges. RE-CONFIRMED 2026-09-15 against the current statutory text on the Louisiana Legislature's site. R.S. 14:95(M) reads: 'The provisions of Subparagraph (A)(1)(a) of this Section shall 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, 18 U.S.C. 922(g), or any other state or federal law.' R.S. 40:1379.3(B)(2)(a) confirms: 'A person who meets the qualifications of R.S. 14:95(M) shall not be required to possess a valid concealed handgun permit issued by the state of Louisiana ... in order to carry a concealed handgun in the state of Louisiana,' and (B)(2)(b) provides that such a person 'shall be deemed to have certified that he meets all of the conditions required in R.S. 14:95(M).' Permitless carriers are NOT unrestricted: R.S. 14:95(N) subjects them to R.S. 40:1379.3(I), (L), (M), (N), and (O) — the same alcohol/drug prohibition (no carry while impaired; .05 percent BAC threshold or any confirmed controlled dangerous substance), the duty to notify an approaching officer, submit to a pat-down and be temporarily disarmed (failure is punished under R.S. 40:1379.3(L) rather than by permit suspension), and all the statutory off-limits places in R.S. 40:1379.3(N): law enforcement offices/stations/buildings, detention facilities, courthouses and courtrooms, polling places, a municipal or public building used as the meeting place of a political subdivision's governing authority, the state capitol, airport areas where federal law bans firearms, tax-exempt churches/synagogues/mosques and similar places of worship absent authorization, permitted parades or demonstrations WHEN THE PERSON IS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT (R.S. 40:1379.3(N)(9)(b), added by Acts 2025, No. 271, expressly exempts a bystander or spectator), the permitted area of a Class A-General alcohol retailer, and any school, school campus or school bus as defined in R.S. 14:95.6; plus private property where the owner prohibits carry and private residences without consent (R.S. 40:1379.3(O)). Carrying without a permit gives no reciprocity in other states and does not satisfy the 18 U.S.C. 922(t) NICS exemption. AMENDMENT CHECK: R.S. 14:95's own amendment-history line now ends '... Acts 2025, No. 420, §1; Acts 2026, No. 410, §1.' Acts 2026, No. 410 (SB 277, Edmonds, eff. Aug. 1, 2026) provides for certain state officials to carry a concealed weapon; it did not touch (M) or (N), whose text is quoted above verbatim from the current section. IMPORTANT: the LSP 'Legislative News and Reports' page remains out of date — it still describes the narrower 2022 version of R.S. 14:95(M) (Act 680 of 2022), limited to Louisiana residents 21+ with military service. That version was superseded by Act 1 of the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session. The statute controls.

Getting the permit anyway is still worth it for most people: other states recognize the permit, not your residency, so without one you generally cannot carry across state lines.

La. R.S. 14:95(M) and (N), as enacted/amended by Acts 2024, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 1, §1, eff. July 4, 2024; see also La. R.S. 40:1379.3(B)(2)

There are 8 details on this page we could not confirm from a primary source. Read what they are before relying on this.

Requirements at a glance

Permit name Concealed Handgun Permit
Issuing authority Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Public Safety Services — Office of State Police (Louisiana State Police), Concealed Handgun Permit Unit; permits are issued by the deputy secretary of public safety services
System shall-issue
Minimum age 21 — 21 is the minimum age for the Louisiana Concealed Handgun Permit — La. R.S. 40:1379.3(C)(4): an applicant shall 'Be twenty-one years of age or older.' There is no reduced permit age for military members. Separately, permitless concealed carry is lawful at 18 under R.S. 14:95(M), so an 18-20 year-old may carry concealed in Louisiana but cannot obtain the permit.
Training required Yes — 9 hours, live fire required
State fee $125 initial / $125 renewal — the state's own charge, not the total
Valid for 5 years
Processing time Not published. LSP states only that 'Processing times are determined by certain factors that vary with each application' and directs applicants to check status at https://chp.la.gov/. The statute imposes no issuance deadline; R.S. 40:1379.3(H)(1) requires the deputy secretary to notify the local chief of police and parish chief law enforcement officer within two working days of the initial application, and those officers have ten days to respond, and (H)(2) requires the permit to be issued 'timely and without delay' to all qualified applicants. LSP asks that renewal applications be returned no less than 90 days before permit expiration; renewal notices go out about 120 days before expiration, and LAC 55:I.1307.D.1 allows a renewal to be filed no more than 120 days before expiration and no later than the sixtieth day after expiration.
Fingerprints Required
Non-resident permit Available

What it actually costs

The state fee is rarely the whole bill. Fingerprinting is usually charged by a private vendor, training is bought from an instructor, and several states add photographs, notarisation or other requirements on top.

State fee $125
Fingerprinting $15–$45 — our estimate; no vendor publishes a rate
Training course $75–$250 (private instructor)
First-time applicant fee $50 — unless resident for the 15 preceding years; not charged at renewal; honorably discharged veterans exempt
Non-resident permit $250 — double the resident fee; lifetime $1,000; LAC 55:I.1307.B.14(c)-(d) as amended LR 52:69 (Jan. 2026)
Realistic total $215–$420 — includes an estimated component

Carrying concealed in Louisiana costs nothing: permitless carry has been lawful since July 4, 2024 for anyone 18+ who is not prohibited, with no training and no fee. The optional permit is priced by the year — R.S. 40:1379.3(H)(2), 'twenty-five dollars per year' for five years, so $125 — and the lifetime permit at $500 is twenty prepaid years on the same arithmetic. Non-residents pay double ($250 five-year, $1,000 lifetime) under LAC 55:I.1307.B.14 as amended in January 2026. Applicants 65 or older and active-duty/reserve military pay half; honorably discharged veterans pay nothing. The 9-hour course from LAC 55:I.1311.A.1 is required for the permit only.

Permitless carry costs nothing. PERMIT FEES (all non-refundable; no cash, no personal checks — money order, cashier's check, certified check, or credit card). RESIDENT: 5-year $125.00; lifetime $500.00. NON-RESIDENT: 5-year $250.00; lifetime $1,000.00. Age 65+ OR active-duty/reserve military: half price — resident 5-year $62.50 / lifetime $250.00; non-resident 5-year $125.00 / lifetime $500.00. Honorably discharged VETERANS are exempt from all permit fees (R.S. 40:1379.3(W)(2)). Additional non-refundable $50 first-time-applicant fee if the applicant has not continuously resided in Louisiana for the 15 years immediately preceding the application (not charged on renewals, not reduced by the 65+/military discount; honorably discharged veterans are exempt). A 45-day TEMPORARY permit for a person protected by a qualifying injunction or protective order costs $25, which is credited against the cost of the full permit (R.S. 40:1379.3.2(B)(4) and (C)(2)). RENEWAL fees are the same as an original minus the $50 fee if it was already paid (LAC 55:I.1307.D.2; LSP FAQ). AUTHORITY: R.S. 40:1379.3(H)(2) sets the permit at 'a term of five years, at a cost of twenty-five dollars per year' ($125); R.S. 40:1379.3(V)(7) sets the lifetime permit at 20 prepaid years ($500), or 10 prepaid years ($250) if 65+; R.S. 40:1379.3(W)(1) gives active/reserve military half the annual fee. The non-resident tiers are now in the rule: LAC 55:I.1307.B.14, as amended by the Office of State Police rule promulgated at LR 52:69 (January 2026), reads '(a) For a five-year resident concealed handgun permit, the fee shall be $125; (b) For a lifetime resident concealed handgun permit, the fee shall be $500; (c) For a five-year non-resident concealed handgun permit, the fee shall be $250; (d) For a lifetime non-resident concealed handgun permit, the fee shall be $1000.' That amendment dropped the old §1307.B.14 clauses stating the 65+/military half reduction and the veteran exemption for initial applications, so those two discounts now rest on R.S. 40:1379.3(W) and on LSP's published schedule and application form (the half reduction is still written into §1307.D.2.a.ii for renewals).

How to apply

  1. FIRST: check whether you need a permit at all. You do not need any permit to carry a concealed handgun in Louisiana if you are 18 or older and not prohibited from possessing a firearm (La. R.S. 14:95(M)) — no training, no application, no fee, no residency requirement, resident or visitor alike. Apply for the permit only if you want reciprocity in other states, the 18 U.S.C. 922(t) NICS purchase exemption, or the other permit-specific privileges.
  2. Confirm you qualify for the permit: 21 or older (R.S. 40:1379.3(C)(4)), meet every eligibility criterion in R.S. 40:1379.3(C), and are not federally or state prohibited. Louisiana residency is NOT required — Acts 2025, No. 273 repealed the residency requirements in (C)(3) and (V)(6), and the January 2026 rule amendments (LR 52:68-69) rewrote LAC 55:I Chapter 13 to cover non-residents and to accept identification from the applicant's own state or territory of residence.
  3. Complete a qualifying handgun training course from an instructor certified under R.S. 40:1379.3(D)(2)(a) (POST, NRA, NRA Law Enforcement Division, USCCA, FLETC, or another DPS&C-approved program) who is registered with the department — typically the 9-hour DPS&C-approved course with 2 hours live range fire (LAC 55:I.1311.A.1). Find a registered instructor at https://chp.la.gov/searchLicense.aspx. Training must generally be within the preceding 12 months. Keep the certificate of completion.
  4. Apply: online through the CHP portal at https://chp.la.gov/ (preferred), or download the paper application (DPSSP 4645, Rv 1/14/2026) from https://lsp.org/media/4h1fmuip/chp-paper-application-updated-01142026.pdf, or obtain one in person at LSP Headquarters, 7919 Independence Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (original applications 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., renewal applications 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Mon-Fri). Paper affidavits must be notarized within 60 days of the application date; do not submit photocopied or double-sided applications. Online applicants use an R.S. 9:2621 online certification in place of notarization (LAC 55:I.1307.B.15).
  5. Attach required documentation: proof of training; photocopy of a valid driver's license or state ID (if issued within the past 6 months, add a US passport, voter registration card, or other proof of residency per LAC 55:I.1307.B.4); certified true copies of final court dispositions for every arrest, detention, charge, or litigation — including expunged, dismissed, or pardoned matters; divorce settlement/decree/final judgment if applicable; DD-214 / DD-256 / DD-257 for military service or the veteran fee exemption; recent orders or military ID for the military discount; and a completed Medical Summary (https://lsp.org/media/yoiowxks/chmedical.pdf) signed by a treating physician or medical doctor (not a physician assistant) if application questions 13-19 apply.
  6. Submit fingerprints electronically AFTER submitting the application, through the Louisiana Applicant Processing Solution (IdentoGo, https://uenroll.identogo.com/) using Service Code 27KBNN. New fingerprints are required for original/first-time applicants; old prints on file may not be accepted. Fingerprints are not required for renewals if prints are already on file (LAC 55:I.1307.D.5).
  7. Pay the fee. Online applicants receive an email with a credit-card payment link once the application is accepted and must pay within 30 days or the application is purged from the system. Accepted methods: money order, cashier's check, certified check, or credit card. No cash, no personal checks. All fees are non-refundable.
  8. Mail any paper application and documents to: Louisiana State Police, Concealed Handgun Permit Unit, PO Box 66375, Baton Rouge, LA 70896.
  9. LSP notifies the chief of police of the applicant's municipality and the parish chief law enforcement officer within two working days; those officers have 10 days to submit qualifying information. LSP then runs a full background investigation (R.S. 40:1379.3(K)). Requests for additional information must be answered within 10 business days or the application is denied as incomplete (LAC 55:I.1307.B.2).
  10. Check status via the 'Search Application' tab at https://chp.la.gov/, or contact the CHP Unit at (225) 925-4867.
  11. RENEWAL: LSP emails a notice about 120 days before expiration. Complete renewal training (required of all permit holders, within one year before filing), then submit the renewal application with the new training certificate, a photocopy of your driver's license, and the fee. LAC 55:I.1307.D.1 allows filing no more than 120 days before expiration and no later than the 60th day after expiration; LSP asks for it no less than 90 days before expiration. After 60 days past expiration you must file a new original application. Return your expired permit; permits remain department property (LAC 55:I.1309.F).
  12. LIFETIME PERMIT RECERTIFICATION: every five years, upload a current training certificate and driver's license/ID to your CHP Portal profile (no new application needed), or email them to the CHP Unit. Failure suspends the lifetime permit until proof is submitted (R.S. 40:1379.3(V)(4)(b)).
  13. SEPARATE ROUTE — 45-DAY TEMPORARY PERMIT: a person protected by a qualifying permanent injunction or protective order that bars the subject from possessing a firearm may apply under R.S. 40:1379.3.2 for a temporary concealed handgun permit. Training is deferred, the fee is $25 (credited toward the full permit), the permit expires 45 days after issuance, it is valid only in Louisiana with no reciprocity and is not a 18 U.S.C. 922 background-check substitute, and a copy of the injunction or protective order must be carried at all times or the permit is invalid.
  14. SEPARATE ROUTE — SPECIAL OFFICER'S COMMISSION: applications are submitted through the CHP portal by selecting 'Special Officer Commission' as the applicant type, with fingerprints submitted through IdentoGo under Service Code 27N45N (R.S. 40:1379.1; LAC 55:I.1303).

Apply on the official Louisiana site

What disqualifies you

Where to get the required training

Louisiana publishes an official list of certified instructors. That list is authoritative — a certificate from an instructor who is not on it may not be accepted. View the official instructor list

Training providers in Louisiana

Businesses in our directory that offer firearms training. These are not state-verified as certified permit instructors — check against the official list above, or ask the provider directly.

All firearms training in Louisiana →

Reciprocity

Carrying into Louisiana

Louisiana recognizes permits from 37 other jurisdictions.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming

34 jurisdictions honor a Louisiana permit

Derived from what each of those states officially publishes.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming

Official Louisiana reciprocity page Full reciprocity matrix →

Building your own in Louisiana

Build for personal use
Allowed
Serial number required
No

Louisiana has no state statute prohibiting an individual from building a firearm for personal use, and no state law requiring a serial number or state registration on a self-made firearm. Amendment check 2026-09-15: the amendment-history lines of R.S. 14:95.7 (last amended Acts 2012), R.S. 40:1781 (last amended Acts 2023), R.S. 40:1785 (last amended Acts 2013) and R.S. 40:1796 (last amended Acts 2024) show no change since the baseline, and no 2026 act touched them. Primary-source basis: (1) R.S. 14:95.7(A) makes it a felony to receive, possess, carry, conceal, buy, sell, or transport a firearm 'from which the serial number or mark of identification has been obliterated' — but subsection (B) expressly provides that the section 'shall not apply to any firearm ... which was originally manufactured without such a number.' A never-serialized homemade firearm therefore falls outside the offense; obliterating an existing serial does not. (2) Louisiana's only firearm registration scheme, R.S. 40:1781 et seq., is an NFA-mirror: the defined 'firearm' covers short-barreled shotguns/rifles, weapons modified under 26 inches overall, machine guns, grenade/rocket launchers, bazookas, gas grenades, silencers/mufflers, and any concealable pistol/revolver/shotgun with an OBLITERATED serial number. R.S. 40:1781(3) then states that 'Pistols and revolvers and those rifles and shotguns which have not previously been defined in this Paragraph as firearms from which serial numbers or marks of identification have not been obliterated are specifically exempt from this definition.' An ordinary homemade pistol or rifle with no serial number is thus outside the registration Part. LSP's own FAQ confirms: 'Per LRS 40:1781(3), Louisiana law does not require registration of a concealable weapon unless the serial number is obliterated.' (3) R.S. 40:1785 prohibits possessing a Part-II 'firearm' not registered or transferred in accordance with 18 U.S.C. or 26 U.S.C. — so a homemade NFA-class item (suppressor, SBR, SBS, machine gun) still requires federal registration and is a state crime if unregistered federally. (4) R.S. 40:1796 preempts political subdivisions from regulating the manufacture, registration, or possession of firearms more restrictively than state law, so no parish or city may impose a serialization or registration requirement. CAVEATS: state permissiveness does not displace federal law. Manufacturing for sale or distribution requires a federal manufacturer's license; ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain unfinished frames/receivers as 'firearms' requiring serialization when transferred through a licensee; the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. 922(p)) bans firearms that cannot be detected by a walk-through metal detector; and anyone federally prohibited may not make or possess a firearm at all (R.S. 14:95.1, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)). I found no Louisiana act through the 2026 Regular Session imposing a serialization or registration requirement on privately made firearms.

La. R.S. 14:95.7(B); La. R.S. 40:1781(3) and 40:1782 (Title 40, Ch. 9, Part II — Registration); La. R.S. 40:1785; La. R.S. 40:1796

Federal law, gunsmithing schools, and tools →

Statutes

What we could not confirm

  • The LSP 'Legislative News and Reports' page (https://lsp.org/about/leadershipsections/support/bcii/concealed-handgun-information/legislative-news-and-reports/) is still STALE as of 2026-09-15: it describes the 2022 version of R.S. 14:95(M) (Act 680 of 2022), under which permitless carry was limited to Louisiana residents 21+ who were current/reserve military or honorably discharged veterans carrying proof. The current statutory text on legis.la.gov — amended by Acts 2024, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 1, eff. July 4, 2024 — is the broad 18+ non-prohibited-person exemption. Rely on the statute; a reader consulting only that LSP page would get the wrong answer.
  • The LSP 'Prohibited Locations' page reproduces R.S. 40:1379.3(N) in its pre-2025 wording: it lists 'A parade or demonstration for which a permit is issued by a governmental entity' without the limitation to active participants and without the bystander/spectator exception that Acts 2025, No. 271 added as (N)(9)(b), and it omits the R.S. 40:1379.3(O) language extending the property-owner and private-residence rules to permitless carriers. The statute controls; treat that page as a summary, not as the current rule.
  • The LSP FAQ still answers the residency question by citing R.S. 40:1379.3(C)(3), which Acts 2025, No. 273 repealed, even though a later FAQ answer on the same page correctly says an applicant need not be a Louisiana resident. The January 2026 rule amendments (LR 52:68-69) are the current authority on non-resident applications.
  • The LSP reciprocity page carries no 'last updated' date. Its 37-state honored list is reported verbatim and is unchanged from the August 2026 baseline. Connecticut appears on NEITHER the honored list nor the 'do not honor' list, and the District of Columbia and the US territories are absent entirely, so Louisiana's treatment of CT and DC permits is not stated by the official source. Because R.S. 40:1379.3(T)(2) makes recognition automatic and mutual (Louisiana recognizes a state's permit if Louisiana's permit is valid there), the operative legal test can shift without the LSP page changing.
  • Reciprocal recognition under R.S. 40:1379.3(T)(2) applies only to out-of-state permit holders who have 'attained the age of twenty-one years,' so an 18-20 year-old with a valid out-of-state permit is not covered by reciprocity — though such a person may still carry under Louisiana's own R.S. 14:95(M) if non-prohibited. I found no LSP guidance addressing this interaction.
  • The amended LAC 55:I.1307.B.14 (LR 52:69, January 2026) no longer contains the clauses that reduced the initial-application fee by half for applicants 65+ or qualifying military, or that exempted veterans. Those discounts are statutory (R.S. 40:1379.3(W)) and LSP publishes them on its fee page and on the current DPSSP 4645 (Rv 1/14/2026) application, and the half reduction survives in §1307.D.2.a.ii for renewals, so the posted amounts should be reliable — but the initial-fee discounts no longer have an express rule provision behind them.
  • No published processing time exists for the permit; LSP says only that it varies. The field reflects that absence rather than an estimate.
  • Amendments were hunted by code section, not by bill title: I read the full amendment-history lines of R.S. 14:95 and R.S. 40:1379.3 on legis.la.gov and accounted for every entry after the baseline date (R.S. 14:95: Acts 2026, No. 410 = SB 277, state officials' carry, which left (M) and (N) untouched; R.S. 40:1379.3: nothing after Acts 2025, Nos. 271 and 273). As a cross-check I also paged through all 972 acts of the 2026 Regular Session. Residual risk: if the legis.la.gov section text is a snapshot rather than today's text, a very recent act could be missing. The 14:95 page does carry an Aug. 1, 2026 act, so it is current at least through the 2026 Regular Session; I did not separately verify whether any 2026 extraordinary session occurred after that session's adjournment on June 1, 2026.

Sources