HB 364 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

POLICE/LOCAL: Requires police departments to provide notice of illegal discharge of a firearm (EN NO IMPACT See Note)

HB 364 requires Louisiana's Department of Public Safety and Corrections to run public awareness campaigns about the dangers and legal penalties of illegally discharging firearms into the air in public areas where it is prohibited. The campaign, using radio, TV, social media, brochures, and hotlines, must be conducted annually from May 15-July 5 and November 15-January 1. Municipal police departments must help distribute these materials to the public. The bill does not create new penalties but mandates public education using existing department funds, targeting residents and visitors in areas where firearm discharges are banned.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Feb 24, 2026 Signed Jun 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB364 Original → HB364 Act 640 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was finalized into Act 640, changing the language from permissive ('may') to mandatory ('shall') for the State Police to distribute public awareness materials. The scope of required messaging was expanded to include collaboration with the Department of Health and specific municipal police departments, while the funding source was clarified to include municipal police departments alongside state agencies.

Scope change

The bill's scope was broadened to explicitly include the Louisiana Department of Health and municipal police departments as required partners in the public awareness campaign, moving from optional collaboration to mandatory dissemination.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the obligation for the Office of State Police from optional ('may collaborate') to mandatory ('shall disseminate').

Added a specific requirement for the Office of State Police to provide information to municipal police departments for further public dissemination.

Reorganized the list of responsible agencies to explicitly include the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of State Police, and municipal police departments in the dissemination mandate.

FISCAL

Clarified that funds for this campaign can come from the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Department of Health, or municipal police departments.

Floor votes · Senate May 18, 2026 · House Apr 22, 2026

How they voted

36–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 40

May 18, 2026

D Democratic12

11 Yea 1

91% Yea

R Republican28

25 Yea 3

89% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read by title, roll called, yeas 99, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.

lower

May 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Rules suspended. The amended bill was read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

upper

May 6, 2026

Committee

Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

upper

May 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Rules suspended. Reported with amendments.

upper

Apr 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 80, nays 12. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably (11-0).

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors