LOUISIANA CONCEALED HAND GUN PERMIT

Selected Statutes

R.S. 40:1379.3 Statewide permits for concealed handguns; application procedures; definitions

A. (1)Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 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 under the provisions of this Section and may promulgate rules and adopt regulations regarding concealed handgun permits in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.  The permit shall contain a permit number, expiration date, photograph, and the name, address and date of birth of the permittee. 

    (2)(a) The name, address and birth date of each person to whom a permit is issued shall be public record. 

         (b) The fact that a person has applied for a permit or has obtained a permit pursuant to this Section, and any information submitted in any application for a concealed handgun permit, shall not be a public record.  However, nothing contained herein shall limit or impede the free flow of information between law enforcement agencies, prohibit the department from releasing information necessary to perform the background investigation, or provide statistical information which does not identify individual applicants or permittees. 

B.  A concealed handgun permit issued pursuant to this Section shall grant authority to a citizen to carry a concealed handgun on his person. 

C. To qualify for a concealed handgun permit, a citizen shall: 

    (1) Make sworn application to the deputy secretary of public safety services of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.  The providing of false or misleading information on the application or any documents submitted with the application shall be grounds for the denial or revocation of a concealed handgun permit.  The application shall reflect training in pistols, revolvers, or both.  Any permittee under this Section shall notify the department of any address or name change within thirty days of the change.  Failure to timely notify the department of any name or address change may result in suspension of the permit for up to thirty days. 

    (2) Agree in writing to hold harmless and indemnify the department, the state or any peace officer for any and all liability arising out of the issuance or use of the concealed handgun permit. 

   (3) Be a resident of the state and have been a resident for six months or longer immediately preceding the filing of the application. 

   (4) Be twenty-one years of age or older. 

    (5) Not suffer from a mental or physical infirmity due to disease, illness or retardation which prevents the safe handling of a handgun. 

    (6) Not be ineligible to possess a firearm by virtue of having been convicted of a felony. 

    (7) Not have been committed, either voluntarily or involuntarily, for the abuse of a controlled dangerous substance, as defined by R.S. 40:961 and 964 and have been found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a misdemeanor under the laws of this state or similar laws of any other state relating to a controlled dangerous substance within a five year period immediately preceding the date on which the application is submitted, or be presently charged under indictment or a bill of information for such an offense. 

   (8) Not chronically and habitually use alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties are impaired.  It shall be presumed that an applicant or permittee chronically and habitually uses alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties are impaired if the applicant has been found guilty of, or entered a pleas of guilty or nolo contendere to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, or has been admitted, either voluntarily or involuntarily, for treatment as an alcoholic within the five year period immediately preceding the date on which the application is submitted, or at any time after the application has been submitted. 

  (9) Not have entered a plea of guilty of nolo contendere to or been found guilty of a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2 at the misdemeanor level, unless five years have elapsed since completion of sentence or any other conditions set by the court have been fulfilled, or unless the conviction was set-aside and the prosecution dismissed, prior to the date on which the application is submitted. 

   (10) Not have been convicted of, have 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 a term of one year or greater.  A conviction, plea of guilty, or plea of nolo contendere under this Paragraph shall include a dismissal and conviction set-aside under the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 893. 

  (11) Not be a fugitive from justice. 

  (12) Not be an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, or narcotic drugs. 

  (13) Not have been adjudicated to be mentally deficient or been committed to a mental institution. 

   (14) Not be an illegal alien in the United States. 

   (15) Not have been discharged fro the Armed Forces of the United States with a discharge characterized as "Under Other than Honorable Conditions", a "Bad Conduct Discharge", or a "Dishonorable Discharge".  In the case of Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers of the United States Armed Forces, the punishment of "dismissal" rendered subject to a verdict of "guilty" at a trial by military court-martial is deemed to be disqualifying under this Paragraph.  For the purposes of this Paragraph, the United States Coast Guard is considered an armed force. 

   (16)  Not have a history of engaging in violent behavior. There shall be a rebutable presumption that an applicant has a history of engaging in violent behavior upon proof that, within a ten-year period immediately preceding the date of the application, the applicant has been arrested or charged on three or more occasions for any crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(13), or has been arrested or charged on two or more occasions for any crime of violence that may be punished by death.  

   (17) Not be ineligible to possess a firearm under 18 USC 922(g). 

D.(1) In addition to the requirements of Subsection C of this Subsection, an applicant shall demonstrate competence with a handgun by any one of the following: 

   (a) Completion of any National Rifle Association handguns safety or training course conducted by a National Rifle Association certified instructor. 

   (b)  Completion of any Department of Public Safety and Corrections approved firearms safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by a law enforcement agency, college, or private or public institution or organization or firearms training school. 

   (c)  Completion of any law enforcement firearms safety or training course or class approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and offered for security guards, investigators, special deputies, or any division or subdivision of law enforcement or security enforcement. 

   (d)  Possession of a current valid license to carry a concealed weapon issued by a parish law enforcement officer. 

   (e)  Completing of any firearms training or safety course or class approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. 

   (f)  Completion of a law enforcement training academy program certified by the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training.  However, any person retired from full-time service as a Louisiana peace officer need only demonstrate that he was properly certified by the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training at the time of retirement. 

   (g)  Completion of small arms training while serving with the Armed Forces of the United States of America as evidenced by any of the following: 

       (i)  For personnel released or retired from active duty, possession of an "Honorable Discharge" or "General Discharge Under Honorable Conditions" as evidenced by a Department of Defense Form 214 (DD-214).

        (ii) For personnel on active duty or serving in one of the National Guard or Reserve components of the Armed Forces, possession of certification of completion of basic training with service record evidence of having successfully completed small arms training and qualification. 

   (h)  The National Rifle Association's personal protection course. 

   (2)  Instructors for any class, training, or course of instruction authorized by this Subsection, except for small arms training in military service as provided in Subparagraph (g) of this Section, shall be certified as an instructor by the National Rifle Association as an instructor for civilians or law enforcement or by the Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training as a firearms instructor.  any safety or training course or class as described in this Subsection, except for basic handgun training in military service provided in Subparagraph (g) of this Subsection, shall include instruction in child access prevention. 

E. A photocopy of a certificate of completion of any of the courses or classes, or an affidavit from the instructor, school, club, organization, or group that conducted or taught said course or class attesting to the completion of the course or class by the applicant, or a copy of any document which shows completion of the course or class or confirms participation in firearms competition or honorable discharge shall constitute evidence of qualification pursuant to Subsection D of this Section.  It shall be illegal to intentionally present false, fraudulent, altered or counterfeit documents to prove training in handguns in order to obtain a concealed handgun permit.  Whoever intentionally presents false, fraudulent, altered or counterfeit documents to prove training in handguns in order to obtain a concealed handgun permit shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.  In addition, no person convicted of a violation of this Subsection C of this Section. 

   (2)  The deputy secretary shall revoke the permit for a violation of Subsection I of this Section or R.S.40:1382. 

G.  Neither the state, the deputy secretary of public safety services, nor any applicable permitting process employee of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall be liable for acts committed by the permittee, unless the deputy secretary or applicable permitting process employee had actual knowledge at the time the permit was issued that the permittee was disqualified by law from carrying a concealed handgun. 

H.  The deputy secretary of public safety services of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall, within two working days of the initial 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 ten days to forward to the deputy secretary any information relating to the applicant's legal qualification to receive a permit.   The deputy secretary of public safety services of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall issue timely and without delay the concealed handgun permit to all qualified applicants, which permit shall be for a term of  four years and which shall be valid in all parishes statewide.  The division shall promulgate rules for the purpose of providing for permits and fees for fewer than four years to the applicants requesting a shorter time period.  Fees shall be reduced proportionately for terms for fewer than four years.  the permit shall be retained by the permittee who shall immediately produce it upon the request of any law enforcement officer.  Anyone who violates the provisions of this Subsection shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars. 

I.  (1)  No individual to whom a concealed handgun permit is issued may carry and conceal such handgun while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance.  While a permittee is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance, an otherwise lawful permit is considered automatically suspended and is not valid.  A permittee shall be considered under the influence as evidenced by a blood alcohol reading of .05 percent or greater by weight of alcohol in the blood, or when a blood test or urine test shows any confirmed presence of a controlled dangerous substance as defined in R.S. 40:961 and 964.

    (2)  A permittee armed with a handgun in accordance with this Section shall notify any police officer who approaches the permittee in an official manner or with an identified official 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 is made aware that an individual is carrying a concealed handgun and the law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the individual is under the influence of either alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance, the law enforcement officer may take temporary possession of the handgun and request submission of the individual to a department certified chemical test for determination of the chemical status of the individual.  Whenever a law enforcement officer is made aware that an individual is behaving in a criminally negligent manner as defined under the provisions of this Section, or is negligent in the carrying of a concealed handgun as provided for in R.S. 40:1382, the law enforcement officer may seize the handgun, until adjudication by a judge, if the individual is issued a summons or arrested under the provisions of R.S 40:1382.  Failure by the permittee to comply with the provisions of this Paragraph shall result in a six month automatic suspension of the permit.

....more to come