Starting July 4, Louisiana's law-abiding residents will no longer need a permit to conceal a handgun, in a controversial lift of a longtime requirement.
The new rule will apply Thursday across every Louisiana parish save Orleans, where it will apply in August, after a local ordinance requiring concealed carry permits expires.
Here's what to know as the requirement lifts:
The law lowers the age requirement.
Before lawmakers and Gov. Jeff Landry signed off on the law in February, only those 21 and older were permitted to conceal a weapon with a permit. Now, people 18 and up can conceal and carry a handgun without such a permit.
Concealed, permitless handguns still aren't allowed in many places.
No concealed handguns are allowed in any building where firearms are banned by state or federal law, such as a law enforcement building, a detention facility, a courthouse, a polling place or a municipal or state building.
The weapons are not allowed in school zones. They are not allowed in bars, though they are allowed in restaurants that serve alcohol. They are not allowed in private residences absent permission from property owners.
The rules won't apply to everyone.
People under the influence of drugs or with alcohol levels over .05 cannot carry a concealed weapon. Neither can felons nor people barred by judges from owning firearms.
The change is unpopular.
According to a recent poll conducted by this newspaper, 63% of Louisiana residents believe the state went too far in changing the law to allow permitless concealed carry. Only 33% supported the change. The opposition ran across racial, political and gender lines.
New Orleans is fighting the requirement for its French Quarter.
Having failed to convince state lawmakers to exempt the French Quarter from the rules, New Orleans officials now say the city's Eighth District station on Royal Street in the French Quarter meets the definition of a school as long as the city is holding training there.
Such a designation means that the station, and the 1,000 feet that surround it, is a gun-free zone, NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, City Council member Helena Moreno and attorney Morris Bart argue.
Attorney General Liz Murrill has warned the move could open the city up to lawsuits.