Louisiana Lets 18-Year-Olds Carry, Then Won’t Issue Them a Permit

Last updated September 2026 · By Nick Hall, who thinks the school-zone rule is the least understood law in American gun ownership

Quick take: The Firearms Policy Coalition asked a federal court on 1 September to block Louisiana’s refusal to issue carry permits to 18-to-20-year-olds. The state already lets them carry concealed without a permit, so at first glance the ban looks harmless. It is not, because federal law makes the permit the key that unlocks school zones, and school zones are everywhere.

• The case: Pool v. Besson, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. FPC filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on 1 September.
• The plaintiffs: Louisiana residents Ella Pool, Christian McDuffie and Charles Matthews, each a peaceable adult aged 18 to 20, alongside FPC.
• The rule: Louisiana allows adults 18 and over to carry concealed without a permit, but will not issue a concealed handgun permit to anyone under 21.
• The federal catch: federal law bars possession within 1,000 feet of a K-12 school unless the carrier holds a licence issued by that state.

This is what happens when two governments write rules without reading each other’s. Neither Louisiana nor Congress set out to trap anyone. The trap exists anyway.

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The 1,000-Foot Rule Almost Nobody Plans For

The Gun-Free School Zones Act makes it a federal offence to possess a firearm within a thousand feet of the grounds of a public or private elementary or secondary school.

There is an exemption, and it is the important part. The prohibition does not apply to a person licensed to carry by the state in which the school is located.

A thousand feet is a long way. In any town of reasonable density, school zones overlap into a near-continuous web across residential streets, shopping areas and the roads connecting them. Most people carrying a permit never think about this, because the permit makes it disappear.

Where That Leaves an 18-Year-Old in Louisiana

Louisiana went permitless in 2024. An adult of 18 or over who is not otherwise prohibited may carry a concealed handgun with no licence at all.

The state still declines to issue a concealed handgun permit to anyone under 21.

So a 19-year-old may lawfully carry under state law, and simultaneously commits a federal offence every time that carry takes him within a thousand feet of a school, because he cannot obtain the licence that would exempt him. He is legal on paper and exposed in practice, and the map of where he is exposed is not published anywhere.

The Precedent FPC Is Building On

The Fifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, already ruled in FPC’s Reese v. ATF that peaceable 18-to-20-year-old adults are part of the People protected by the Second Amendment. That decision struck down the federal ban on handgun and handgun-ammunition sales to that age group.

Pool is the logical next step in the same circuit. If 18-to-20s hold the right, a state inside that circuit refusing them the licence that makes the right usable is on difficult ground.

The plaintiffs are each described as peaceable adults who are legally eligible to possess firearms and who would apply for a permit if the state allowed it. That framing matters, because it removes every argument that is not about age. FPC has published the motion and its reasoning.

Why the State Position Is Awkward

Louisiana is not arguing that 18-to-20-year-olds are too dangerous to carry guns. It already lets them, without a permit, without training, without a background check beyond the point of sale.

What it will not do is give them a document. And the only practical function of that document, for someone who can already carry, is the federal school-zone exemption and reciprocity in other states.

That makes the ban hard to defend on safety grounds, because the state has conceded the safety question in the other direction. It looks like a piece of pre-permitless-carry statute that nobody went back and tidied up.

What Happens Now

A preliminary injunction motion moves faster than a full case. If the court grants it, Louisiana would have to start processing applications from 18-to-20-year-olds while the litigation continues.

For young adults carrying in Louisiana today, nothing has changed yet. The school-zone exposure is real and it is federal, which means it does not care what state law permits.

Our Louisiana gun laws guide has the state picture, and the concealed carry guide covers the habits worth building early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Reading

• Louisiana gun laws explained
• The concealed carry guide
• Concealed carry for beginners
• How to get a concealed carry permit
• US gun laws, state by state