Visitors to Louisiana will soon be able to apply for a non-resident concealed carry permit for the first time now that Gov. Jeff Landry has signed HB 407 into law. The bill, authored by Rep. Lauren Ventrella, is one of several concealed carry reform measures adopted by the legislature this session, and hopefully won’t be the last to be approved by the governor.
Starting on August 1, 2025 non-residents who want to apply for a carry license will be able to submit an application to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. So long as you can lawfully possess a firearm you’re eligible to receive a carry license, which is valid for the rest of your life unless it’s revoked with cause.
The Firearms Policy Coalition hailed Landry’s approval of the bill, noting that the legislation itself was a response to litigation filed by the Second Amendment organization last year.
“On behalf of our members, we thank Rep. Ventrella for her leadership on this important issue and Gov. Landry for signing this bill into law,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “We are thrilled that Louisiana has made this critical change to improve access to the right to bear arms. We and our members are working to unlock the right to carry throughout the United States, and this bill helps do just that.
“Now it’s time for Congress to fix and pass H.R. 38 so that all Americans can exercise their right to bear arms without fear of arrest and prosecution.”
Non-residents can already lawfully bear arms under the state’s permitless carry law, but that comes with a caveat thanks to federal law. The Gun-Free Schools Zones Act forbids gun possession within 1,000 feet of a school, unless the person who’s carrying is “licensed to [carry] by the State in which the school zone is located”.
While charges related to violations of that act are pretty rare, the law is nevertheless still on the books and enforceable despite the fact that 29 states no longer require any license to carry. The federal statute should, at the very least, be updated with language stating that so long as the gun owner is “lawfully carrying in the state where the school zone is located” they’re not breaking federal law.
There’s at least one other bill addressing this issue still pending before Gov. Landry. SB 101, authored by Sen. Blake Miguez essentially adopts the language in the paragraph above and applies it to state law. The statute statute would exempt “Any person who has a valid concealed handgun permit issued pursuant to R.S. 40:1379.1 or, 1379.3 [Louisiana’s concealed carry licensing law], or by a state that has reciprocity with Louisiana, or a person carrying a handgun pursuant to 14:95(M) [Louisiana’s permitless carry law], and who carries a concealed handgun within one thousand feet of any school campus.”
Ventrella’s bill is a big step in the right direction, but I’d argue that SB 101 goes even further in offering protections for lawful gun owners. Both bills deserved legislative approval, and now that Gov. Landry has approved HB 407 he should do the same with the Senate bill that’s sitting on his desk.
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