State Gun Laws

A judge must order that the defendant transfer all of his/her firearms to the sheriff within 48 hours and that his/her concealed handgun permit is suspended in any of the following situations:

1. When a long-term protective order is issued based on domestic abuse, dating violence, or stalking (and in other legal proceedings as well);¹
2. When a person is convicted of any of the following crimes:

• domestic abuse battery;
• battery of a dating partner when the offense involves strangulation;
• battery of a dating partner when the offense involves burning;
• a second (or third, fourth, etc.) offense of battery of a dating partner;
• possession of a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon by a person convicted of domestic abuse battery and certain offenses of battery of a dating partner.²

Once the sheriff gets the firearms, the sheriff can:

• allow a third party who does not live with the defendant to hold onto the transferred firearms;
• accept and store the transferred firearms, possibly in a storage facility; or
• oversee the legal sale of the transferred firearms to a third party, such as a licensed firearms dealer.³

If there comes a time when the defendant is no longer prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law (such as when the protective order expires), s/he can file a motion with the court seeking an order for the return of the transferred firearms.⁴

¹ LA C.Cr.P. Art. 1001(A)(2), (D)(1)
² LA C.Cr.P. Art. 1001(A)(1), (D)(1)
³ LA C.Cr.P. Art. 1002(A)
⁴ LA C.Cr.P. Art. 1002(D)(1)