Pennsylvania gun laws come from a single statewide code, the Uniform Firearms Act in Title 18, Chapter 61, and no county or city can add rules on top of it.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6120 – Limitation on the Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition For most adults who aren’t disqualified, that means you can buy a long gun at 18, a handgun at 21, openly carry a holstered handgun in most of the state without a permit, and get a License to Carry Firearms from your county sheriff after a background check and a $20 fee.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6109 – Licenses The details below are where people get into trouble.
Who Cannot Have a Firearm
Section 6105 lists the people barred from possessing, using, or transferring a firearm anywhere in the Commonwealth.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6105 – Persons Not to Possess, Use, Manufacture, Control, Sell or Transfer Firearms Convictions for offenses such as aggravated assault, robbery, and burglary are on the list, along with many others.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6105 – Persons Not to Possess, Use, Manufacture, Control, Sell or Transfer Firearms A final Protection from Abuse order that includes a firearms relinquishment provision also bars possession for as long as the order lasts.5Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Relinquish Firearms in Accordance With the Pennsylvania Protection From Abuse Act or Conviction of a Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence
Mental health history matters, too. An involuntary inpatient commitment under the Mental Health Procedures Act gets reported to the State Police and makes you ineligible. Federal law adds its own categories, including unlawful users of controlled substances and anyone dishonorably discharged from the military.
Most § 6105 violations are second-degree felonies, punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $25,000 fine.6Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 Chapter 11 – Authorized Disposition of Offenders
Buying a Firearm
You must be 18 to buy a long gun and 21 to buy a handgun. Every sale through a licensed dealer runs through the Pennsylvania Instant Check System, operated by the State Police, which screens criminal and mental health records.7Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Check Prior to the Purchase, Transfer or Return of a Firearm or Obtaining a License to Carry
Private sales are where the rules diverge. The Uniform Firearms Act defines “firearm” to include handguns and short-barreled rifles and shotguns, so a private sale of a standard-length long gun between two Pennsylvania residents does not require a background check. A private handgun transfer does. It must go through a licensed dealer or a county sheriff’s office, which runs the PICS check. Transfers between spouses, parents and children, and grandparents and grandchildren are exempt.8Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6111 – Sale or Transfer of Firearms
The License to Carry Firearms
A License to Carry Firearms lets you carry a handgun concealed on your person or inside a vehicle anywhere in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a shall-issue state, so the sheriff must approve your application unless a specific legal reason to deny it applies.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6109 – Licenses You apply to the sheriff in the county where you live. Philadelphia residents apply through the Philadelphia Police Department’s Gun Permits Unit.9Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Carrying Firearms in Pennsylvania
The application asks for a valid photo ID, your physical description, date of birth, contact information, and two non-family character references.10Philadelphia Police Department. Application for a Pennsylvania License to Carry Firearms You also pick a reason: self-defense, employment, hunting, or target shooting. Providing a Social Security number is optional. Putting false information on the form is a third-degree misdemeanor.11Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 4904 – Unsworn Falsification to Authorities
The fee is $20 and the license is valid for five years. The sheriff has 45 days to investigate and either issue the license or send you a written denial by certified mail explaining the specific reasons.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6109 – Licenses A sheriff may deny an application if the investigation shows the applicant’s character and reputation suggest they would act in a way dangerous to public safety. Denials can be appealed to the local Court of Common Pleas (Philadelphia uses a separate initial appeal route through the Board of License and Inspection Review).
Renewal is the same form, the same fee, and another background check. Bring your old license when you pick up the new one.12Philadelphia Police Department. Philadelphia Police Department Gun Permits Unit Pennsylvania requires no training course for either the initial application or renewal.
Open Carry, Concealed Carry, and Carrying in a Vehicle
Open carry of a holstered handgun is legal without a license anywhere in Pennsylvania for anyone at least 18 who is not otherwise prohibited. Concealed carry on your person requires an LTCF. Two situations complicate the open-carry rule.
Philadelphia
Section 6108 has long required a license to carry any firearm on public streets or public property in a city of the first class, meaning Philadelphia, even for open carry.13Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6108 – Carrying Firearms on Public Streets or Public Property in Philadelphia In June 2025, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held in Commonwealth v. Sumpter that this provision is unconstitutional as applied to open carry, on equal protection grounds, because no other city faces the same requirement.14Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Commonwealth v. Sumpter, 2025 PA Super 124 The ruling was limited to unlicensed open carry and did not touch concealed carry or statewide licensing. Enforcement in Philadelphia may continue to shift if the Commonwealth appeals, so watch for updates before relying on it.
In a Vehicle
Carrying a firearm inside a vehicle without a valid LTCF is more serious than most people expect. The default charge under § 6106 is a third-degree felony, up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine. If you were otherwise eligible for a license and were not committing any other crime at the time, the charge drops to a first-degree misdemeanor with a maximum of five years.15Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 6106 – Firearms Not to Be Carried Without a License If you are transporting a firearm without a license, it must be unloaded, with the ammunition in a separate container or the firearm secured in a case.
Where Firearms Are Off-Limits
A license doesn’t unlock every location. Possessing a weapon on school property, including buildings, grounds, and school buses, is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to five years, and it applies to public, private, and parochial elementary and secondary schools.16Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 912 – Possession of Weapon on School Property
Court facilities are also off-limits, but the penalty depends on your status. A licensed carrier who forgets to check a firearm at the building’s designated locker faces a summary offense; anyone else faces a third-degree misdemeanor. Counties must provide free lockers or similar storage at courthouse entrances.17Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 913 – Possession of Firearm or Other Dangerous Weapon in Court Facility
Federal law bans firearms in post offices and past airport security checkpoints. Private property owners and businesses can prohibit firearms on their premises, and staying after being told to leave can support a defiant trespass charge. Pennsylvania has no state law banning carry in bars, restaurants, or other establishments that serve alcohol, though the owner can still set that rule.
Self-Defense and the Castle Doctrine
Pennsylvania’s Castle Doctrine sits in § 505. If someone unlawfully and forcefully enters your home, residence, or occupied vehicle, or tries to forcibly remove someone from any of those places, the law presumes you reasonably believed deadly force was necessary.18Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 18 505 – Use of Force in Self-Protection The prosecution then has to prove your belief was unreasonable. You also have no duty to retreat from your home or workplace before using deadly force, unless you were the initial aggressor.
Outside your home, the rules tighten. In a public place where you have a right to be, you can use deadly force only if you reasonably believe you face imminent death, serious injury, kidnapping, or sexual assault, and either you cannot retreat safely or the attacker displays a lethal weapon.
The presumption does not apply in three situations: the person you used force against had a legal right to be in the dwelling, the person being removed was a child in the lawful custody of the person you confronted, or you were engaged in criminal activity at the time. A use of force found justified under the self-defense statute also carries immunity from civil suit by the person you used force against.19Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 42 8340.2 – Civil Immunity for Use of Force
Out-of-State Licenses and Interstate Travel
Pennsylvania recognizes concealed carry licenses from roughly 30 other states under agreements negotiated by the Attorney General’s Office. To carry in Pennsylvania on an out-of-state license, you must be a resident of the issuing state and at least 21.9Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Carrying Firearms in Pennsylvania The list changes, so check the Attorney General’s website before you travel, and carry both the permit and a photo ID.
If your route takes you through a state that doesn’t recognize your Pennsylvania license, the federal Firearm Owners’ Protection Act allows transport as long as possession is legal at both your origin and destination, the gun is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor the ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms In a vehicle without a separate trunk, the firearm and ammunition go in a locked container other than the glove compartment or center console. That protection covers transit only. It does not let you stop and carry in a state that doesn’t recognize your license.