06/03/2026
Piercing Wisdom Wednesday: Piercing guns…
The use of piercing guns or spring loaded instruments or any way it is labeled is written within the laws that we follow as piercers in Louisiana as so…
“Use of a piercing gun to pierce shall be prohibited on all parts of the body, including the outer cartilage perimeter of the ear with the exception of the ear lobe.”
This directly states that they are not to be used ANYWHERE on the body but earlobes. It directly states they are NOT to be used on any cartilage including the helix rim of the ear!
If someone is offering this service with a gun anywhere but the ear lobe in Louisiana, they are breaking the law!
As professional piercers, we do not use piercing guns at all. We use single use tri-bevel piercing needles. These needles are designed specifically for piercings and when used properly create a wound with minimal trauma to ensure the best healing possible. Piercing guns rip a hole open using a jewelry that is “sharpened” but no where near as sharp as our needles are. These guns commonly snag and get stuck halfway through the piercing. They also CANNOT be sterilized which creates cross contamination hazards in the procedure. These guns traumatize the tissue all around the piercing site. Many people using guns are instructed via a video that they click next through a series of slides and are then told to begin piercing people with the “training” the video provided. They do not undergo any mentorship or proper training/education. Even as a piercer of 15+ years, I still am learning and growing. There’s no chance one video makes someone competent in piercing.
Here is a link to the Louisiana laws we follow as body piercers …
https://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-EH/sanitarian/fooddrug/commercial_body_art/PartXXVIIITitle51.pdf
I’ve also attached a screenshot of the page that contains the article about piercing guns.