Federal law requires firearms dealers to obtain a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), although resource limitations prevent the ATF from properly overseeing all its licensees.

Louisiana has no law requiring firearms dealers to obtain a state license,¹ or generally regulating firearm dealers in any way.

Louisiana also has no law requiring dealers to conduct a background check on prospective firearm purchasers, although the federal background check requirement  applies. For laws applicable to both licensed and private firearm sellers, please see the page on Universal Background Checks in Louisiana.

In 2018, Louisiana passed a law requiring licensed gun dealers to report background check denials to local sheriffs in instances where a gun purchase was attempted by somebody reported ineligible to purchase firearms by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.²

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1. However, dealers in short barreled shotguns and rifles, shotguns or rifles modified to have an overall length of less than 26 inches, concealable firearms with obliterated serial numbers, machine guns, or mufflers and silencers for firearms must register with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (“Department”). La. Rev. Stat. §§ 40:1781, 40:1787. The dealer must provide his or her name and all places of business within the state. Each dealer of these firearms must identify the firearm with an identification mark approved by the Department, and keep records of the transactions in these specified firearms as required by the Department. La. Rev. Stat. §§ 40:1788, 40:1789.[↩]
2. 2018 La. SB 231 (signed by the Governor May 20, 2018), enacting La. Rev. Stat. §95.1.3(E).[↩]