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Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Background Check Procedures in Louisiana.’ Background Checks. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 19 November

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Background Checks in Louisiana

Federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers (but not private sellers) to initiate a background check on the purchaser prior to sale of a firearm. Federal law provides states with the option of serving as a state "point of contact" and conducting their own background checks using state, as well as federal, records and databases, or having the checks performed by the FBI using only the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System ("NICS") database. (Note that state files are not always included in the federal database.)

Louisiana is not a point of contact state for the NICS. Louisiana has no law requiring firearms dealers to initiate background checks prior to transferring a firearm. As a result, in Louisiana, firearms dealers must initiate the background check required by federal law by contacting the FBI directly.

Louisiana law states that concealed handgun permit holders in Louisiana are exempt from federal background checks when purchasing a firearm. However, federal law does not require dealers to conduct a background check only if a firearm purchaser presents a state permit to purchase or possess firearms that meets certain conditions. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives has determined that Louisiana concealed handgun permits do not meet these conditions. As a result, federal law still requires licensed dealers in Louisiana to conduct background checks prior to sale of a firearm, even if the purchaser has a concealed handgun permit.

Louisiana does not require private sellers (sellers who are not licensed dealers) to initiate a background check when transferring a firearm…

[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]

ID: Q6934

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