§1472.3. License; manufacturer, dealer-distributor, user, blaster, or handler of explosives

A.(1) It shall be unlawful for any person or business to acquire, sell, possess, store, engage in the use of, or otherwise handle explosives in this state, except in conformity with the provisions of this Part. Each manufacturer, dealer-distributor, user, blaster, or handler, as such words are defined in R.S. 40:1472.2, shall possess a valid and subsisting license issued by the deputy secretary. An applicant employed by a licensed manufacturer, shall be permitted to work and to perform duties that would otherwise require a license pursuant to this Part provided the following conditions are all met:

(a) The applicant has submitted a complete application for a handler license.

(b) The applicant has successfully completed the required training.

(c) The applicant has been drug screened and found free of controlled dangerous substances.

(d) The applicant is found to meet the suitability requirements for licensing as provided for in this Chapter.

(e) When the conditions in Subparagraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this Paragraph have been fulfilled and the department has preliminarily determined the applicant to be suitable for licensing, the department shall, within five days from receipt of application unless exigent circumstances dictate otherwise, inform the applicant as to his provisional status to begin work.

(f) During the period as provided for in Subparagraph (e) of this Paragraph a currently licensed manufacturer shall be responsible to ensure the applicant performs all activities regulated by this Chapter under their direct supervision or the supervision of a licensed designee in their employ. Such licensee shall direct, coordinate and control all activities of the applicant at all times while at work and shall not permit the applicant to work independently with explosives until fully licensed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

(2) Any person who is solely engaged in the initiation of fireworks for public display and holds a valid pyrotechnic operator license or a pyrotechnic special effects operator license issued by the state fire marshal in accordance with R.S. 51:650 et seq. shall not be required to obtain a blaster's license issued pursuant to this Part.

(3) License holders shall be required to receive additional training as prescribed by the deputy secretary who shall approve all courses of instruction and all instructors of such courses in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to this Part.

(4) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections is authorized to inspect all facilities under the control of an explosives licensee when the license is issued pursuant to the provisions of this Section.

(5) Persons under twenty-one years of age who possess a blaster license issued pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be supervised by a licensed blaster who is at least twenty-one years of age.

B.(1) Each manufacturer, dealer-distributor, and user shall possess a valid United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, explosives license or permit.

(2) Each manufacturer, dealer-distributor, and user maintaining a Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, or Type 5 storage magazine as defined by regulations promulgated pursuant to this Part shall possess an additional license, as set forth in this Paragraph, for each magazine. Type 3 portable magazines or "day boxes" used for taking detonators and other explosives from storage magazines to the blasting area are exempt from the licensing and location reporting requirements of this Paragraph. The department shall assign to each magazine licensed pursuant to this Part a license number which shall be posted on the magazine in a manner prescribed by the department. The exact location of such magazines shall be reported to the deputy secretary in the application for such license. Any change in such magazine locations shall be reported to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, explosives control unit, in advance of the actual change in a manner prescribed by the department. Written notice of such location change shall be filed with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, explosives control unit and the deputy secretary, not later than seven calendar days after such change is effected.

C.(1) Licenses shall be required for the following and the fees therefor are as follows:

1 yr.                2 yr.                3 yr.                4 yr.

(a) Manufacturer                   $200                $400                $550                $700

(b) Dealer-distributor            $200                $400                $550                $700

(c) User                                  $100                $200                $250                $300

(d) Magazine                         $50                  $100                $150                $200

(e) Blaster                              $50                  $100                $150                $200

(f) Handler                             $50                  $100                $125                $150

(2) License holders may renew their licenses ninety days prior to expiration. The department shall notify license holders of the expiration of their licenses at least sixty days prior to expiration.

(3) The nonrefundable fees in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall be submitted with the license application but shall not apply to Type 3 Magazines.

D. Such licenses shall be issued by the deputy secretary for a period not to exceed four years from the date of issuance. The department may issue blaster and handler licenses to qualified individuals who seek such a license and who are not, at the time of application, employed by a licensed manufacturer, dealer-distributor, or user.

E.(1) The forms of such licenses and applications shall be prescribed by the deputy secretary and shall require a photo of the applicant as well as such other information and data as the deputy secretary deems appropriate.

(2) To qualify for a license, an applicant shall:

(a) Make sworn application to the department. The providing of false or misleading information in the application or any documents submitted with the application shall be grounds for the denial or revocation of a license and shall subject the applicant to criminal prosecution. Any license holder under this Section shall notify the department of any name or address change within thirty days of the change. Failure to timely notify the department of a name or address change may result in suspension of the license for up to thirty days.

(b) Agree in writing to hold harmless and indemnify the department, the state, or any peace officer for any and all liability arising out of the issuance or use of a license issued pursuant to this Part.

(c) Be twenty-one years of age or older, except licenses for blasters and handlers for which an applicant shall be eighteen years of age or older to qualify.

(d) Not suffer from a mental or physical infirmity due to disease, illness, or intellectual disability which prevents the safe handling of explosives.

(e) Not be ineligible to possess an explosives license by virtue of having been convicted of a felony.

(f) Not have been committed, either voluntarily or involuntarily, for the abuse of a controlled dangerous substance, as defined by R.S. 40:961 and 964, or been found guilty of or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a misdemeanor under the laws of this state or similar laws of any other state relating to a controlled dangerous substance within a five-year period immediately preceding the date on which the application is submitted, or be presently charged under indictment or a bill of information for such an offense.

(g) Not have entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to or been found guilty of a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2 at the misdemeanor level, unless five years have elapsed since completion of sentence or any other conditions set by the court have been fulfilled, or unless the conviction was set aside and the prosecution dismissed prior to the date on which the application is submitted.

(h) Not have been convicted of, have entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, or not be charged under indictment or a bill of information for any crime of violence or any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or greater. A conviction, plea of guilty, or plea of nolo contendere for the purposes of this Paragraph shall include a dismissal and conviction set aside under the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 893.

(i) Not be a fugitive from justice.

(j) Not be a person whose prior activities, arrest or arrests, criminal record, reputation, habits, and associations pose a threat to public safety.

(k) Not be an unlawful user of or addicted to marijuana, depressants, stimulants, or narcotic drugs.

(l) Not have been adjudicated to be mentally deficient or been committed to a mental institution.

(m) Be a legal resident of the United States.

(n) Not have been discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States with a discharge characterized as "Under Other than Honorable Conditions", a "Bad Conduct Discharge", or a "Dishonorable Discharge". In the case of commissioned officers and warrant officers of the United States Armed Forces, the punishment of "Dismissal" rendered subject to a verdict of "guilty" at a trial by military court-martial is deemed to be disqualifying under this Paragraph. For the purposes of this Subparagraph, the United States Coast Guard is considered an armed force.

(o) Not have a history of engaging in violent behavior. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that an applicant has a history of engaging in violent behavior upon proof that, within a ten-year period immediately preceding the date of the application, the applicant has been arrested or charged on three or more occasions for any crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B), or has been arrested or charged on two or more occasions for any crime of violence that may be punished by death.

(p) Not have been determined by a judge of this state or any other state to be a credible threat to the physical safety of another, nor a person who is subjected to the provisions of an active protective order, or prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm by law.

(3)(a) The deputy secretary shall revoke the license if at any time during the license period the license holder fails to satisfy any one of the qualification requirements provided for in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection.

(b) The department shall execute a thorough background investigation, including a criminal history check, of every applicant for the purpose of verifying the qualifications of the applicant pursuant to the requirements of this Section. For purposes of this Subparagraph, a background check shall be defined as a computer check of available online state records, as well as national records including but not limited to the federal Interstate Identification Index for a national identification and criminal history records check and which may include fingerprints of the applicant, if so requested by the department.

(c) Cost incurred by the department for processing Louisiana State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint cards shall be borne by the applicant.

(4)(a) Anyone who handles, moves, uses, manipulates, or otherwise detonates explosives and does so with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 percent or greater by weight of alcohol in the blood or when a blood or urine test confirms the presence of any abused or controlled substance that has been prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner shall constitute a violation of careless use of explosives as found in R.S. 40:1472.18 and shall be cause for the immediate suspension of the person's explosive license issued pursuant to this Chapter.

(b) Anyone who handles, moves, uses, manipulates, or otherwise detonates explosives and does so with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater by weight of alcohol in the blood or when a blood or urine test confirms the presence of any abused or controlled dangerous substance that was not prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner shall constitute a violation of reckless use of explosives as found in R.S. 40:1472.19 and shall be cause for the person's explosives license issued pursuant to this Chapter to be revoked for life.

(5) The tested license holder may have a physician or a qualified technician, chemist, registered nurse, or other qualified person of his own choosing administer a chemical test or tests in addition to any administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer. The license holder shall be given the opportunity to telephone and request the qualified person to administer such test.

F. Repealed by Acts 2003, No. 161, §1.

G. No license shall be issued by the deputy secretary pursuant to an application therefor unless it shall be determined that the purpose for which the applicant seeks a license falls within the purview of this Part and that such purpose is not violative of any other laws of this state.

H. All explosives licensing fees collected pursuant to this Section shall be dedicated to the Explosives Trust Fund for the use of the deputy secretary in the administration of this Part, and shall be deposited in a special fund to be established in the office of the state treasurer pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 40:1472.20.

I. It shall be unlawful for any person in an application for a license required by Subsection A or B of this Section to knowingly make a false statement therein. Whoever is convicted of violating the provisions of this Subsection shall be fined not less than fifteen hundred dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not less than two years nor more than five years, or both.

J. Whoever is convicted of violating Subsection A of this Section shall be fined not less than five thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not less than five years nor more than ten years, or both.

K. Whoever is convicted of violating Subsection B of this Section shall be fined not less than one thousand five hundred dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not less than two years nor more than five years, or both.

L.(1) The provisions of this Part shall not apply to the use of commercially manufactured black powder by historical and cultural reenactors sixteen years of age or older or the acquisition and use of commercially manufactured black powder by historical and cultural reenactors twenty-one years of age or older, who have completed the Louisiana State Parks Black Powder Certification. The acquisition and possession of black powder shall be limited to quantities not to exceed the following:

(a) Twenty-five pounds for historical and cultural reenactors who hold artillery designation with a bona fide unit of historical reenactors.

(b) Five pounds for all other lawful purchasers.

(2) Persons acquiring commercially manufactured black powder in quantities in excess of five pounds shall produce evidence of current certification from Louisiana State Parks for participation in Louisiana historical and cultural reenactments.

(3) Black powder in excess of five pounds that is stored at a private residence shall be reported in writing by the homeowner, occupant, or resident, as the case may be, to the chief of a fire district or department of competent jurisdiction.

Acts 1995, No. 1139, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1202, §1; Acts 2003, No. 160, §1; Acts 2003, No. 161, §1; Acts 2003, No. 398, §1; Acts 2008, No. 898, §1; Acts 2009, No. 391, §1; Acts 2014, No. 1, §1, eff. April 23, 2014; Acts 2014, No. 811, §22, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2018, No. 315, §1.