Louisiana Tried to Drag DOJ Into an Under-21 Carry Fight. The Judge Said No.

U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph in Lafayette denied Louisiana’s Rule 5.1 request on Friday, August 21, 2026. The docket is Pool v. Hodges, No. 6:26-cv-02650 (W.D. La.). Plaintiffs Ella Pool, 19, Christian McDuffie, 18, and Firearms Policy Coalition sued on July 22. They named then-Superintendent Robert P. Hodges. Hodges retired July 31. Colonel Frank J. Besson is now the defendant in his official capacity as Louisiana State Police superintendent.

Louisiana law splits the right in two. La. R.S. § 14:95(M) lets otherwise-legal adults 18 and older carry concealed without a permit. La. R.S. § 40:1379.3(C)(4) still sets 21 as the floor for a concealed-handgun license. The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act generally bars possessing a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school unless the carrier is licensed by that state. The plaintiffs say that mismatch traps them in unmarked federal zones around more than 1,300 schools. They are not asking Joseph to invalidate 18 U.S.C. § 922(q). They are asking him to strike the state’s 21-and-up license rule under Bruen and the Fifth Circuit’s 2025 Reese case (United States v. Reese).

Besson filed a notice claiming the complaint “draws into question” the constitutionality of the Gun-Free School Zones Act and that Joseph therefore had to certify the question to the U.S. Attorney General. Joseph refused. The plaintiffs “do not challenge the constitutionality of the GFSZA or seek any relief against its enforcement.” Quote: the court “may assume, without deciding, that § 922(q) is constitutional and limit its inquiry to the lawfulness of Louisiana’s age restriction.”

This is not a Second Amendment win on the merits. Joseph already turned down the plaintiffs’ July 22 summary-judgment filing on August 3 as premature — Hodges had not yet appeared. The state’s responsive pleading is due October 17. Friday killed the dodge: turn a state-license case into a federal-statute circus so DOJ has to walk in. The fight stays on La. R.S. § 40:1379.3(C)(4).