Pennsylvania Carry Laws

License to Carry Firearms Required

Pennsylvania requires a License to Carry Firearms (18 Pa.C.S. § 6109, shall-issue, no training) for concealed carry and for carry in a vehicle. Open carry without a license is legal outside Philadelphia; Philadelphia's street-carry license requirement (§ 6108) was held unconstitutional as applied by the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Sumpter (June 23, 2025), so its enforceability is currently unsettled — carrying openly in Philadelphia without an LTCF remains legally risky pending final resolution.

LICENSE TO CARRY FIREARMS REQUIRED
Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania requires a License to Carry Firearms (18 Pa.C.S. § 6109, shall-issue, no training) for concealed carry and for carry in a vehicle. Open carry without a license is legal outside Philadelphia; Philadelphia's street-carry license requirement (§ 6108) was held unconstitutional as applied by the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Sumpter (June 23, 2025), so its enforceability is currently unsettled — carrying openly in Philadelphia without an LTCF remains legally risky pending final resolution.

Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109 (LTCF); 18 Pa.C.S. § 6108 with official 2025 Unconstitutionality note citing Commonwealth v. Sumpter, 340 A.3d 977 (Pa. Super. 2025).

Prohibited Places - Where You Cannot Carry

Pennsylvania: State law bars carry in court facilities (18 Pa.C.S. 913 — third-degree misdemeanor; a summary offense for licensees who fail to use the county's free checking lockers; no conviction absent posted or actual notice) and K-12 school property and transport (18 Pa.C.S. 912, first-degree misdemeanor, with a defense for possession 'for other lawful purpose'); weapons unlawfully brought into detention facilities violate 18 Pa.C.S. 5122.

PROHIBITED PLACES - WHERE YOU CANNOT CARRY
Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: State law bars carry in court facilities (18 Pa.C.S. 913 — third-degree misdemeanor; a summary offense for licensees who fail to use the county's free checking lockers; no conviction absent posted or actual notice) and K-12 school property and transport (18 Pa.C.S. 912, first-degree misdemeanor, with a defense for possession 'for other lawful purpose'); weapons unlawfully brought into detention facilities violate 18 Pa.C.S. 5122.
Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. 913 (court facilities); 18 Pa.C.S. 912 (school property); 18 Pa.C.S. 5122 (detention facilities).

Duty to Inform - Produce License on Demand

Pennsylvania: No duty to volunteer that you are carrying; a person carrying a firearm must produce the License to Carry Firearms for inspection upon a law enforcement officer's lawful demand, and failure to produce it at arrest or preliminary hearing creates a rebuttable presumption of nonlicensure (18 Pa.C.S. § 6122).

DUTY TO INFORM LAW ENFORCEMENT
PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania: No duty to volunteer that you are carrying; a person carrying a firearm must produce the License to Carry Firearms for inspection upon a law enforcement officer's lawful demand, and failure to produce it at arrest or preliminary hearing creates a rebuttable presumption of nonlicensure (18 Pa.C.S. § 6122).

Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. § 6122 (Proof of license).

Duty to Retreat (Qualified) - Stand-Your-Ground Only If Attacker Displays a Deadly Weapon

Pennsylvania: General duty to retreat in public before using deadly force if it can be done with complete safety (18 Pa.C.S. § 505(b)(2)) — this duty does NOT apply in your dwelling or workplace, and Act 10 of 2011 (§ 505(b)(2.3)) also removes it specifically when the attacker displays or uses a firearm or other deadly weapon and you are lawfully present and not committing a crime.

SELF-DEFENSE LAWS
PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania: General duty to retreat in public before using deadly force if it can be done with complete safety (18 Pa.C.S. § 505(b)(2)) — this duty does NOT apply in your dwelling or workplace, and Act 10 of 2011 (§ 505(b)(2.3)) also removes it specifically when the attacker displays or uses a firearm or other deadly weapon and you are lawfully present and not committing a crime.

Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. § 505(b)(2) (general retreat duty, dwelling/workplace exception) and § 505(b)(2.3), added by Act 10 of 2011 (narrow stand-your-ground exception).

No Magazine Capacity Limit

Pennsylvania has no state-level magazine capacity restrictions. Standard and extended magazines are legal.

NO MAGAZINE CAPACITY LIMIT
Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has no state-level magazine capacity restrictions. Standard and extended magazines are legal.

Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. § 6120(a) (preemption); grep of the ENTIRE Uniform Firearms Act (18 Pa.C.S. ch. 61).

No Red Flag Law

Pennsylvania: No red flag (ERPO) law is in effect as of February 2026.

RED FLAG / EXTREME RISK LAW
Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: No red flag (ERPO) law is in effect as of February 2026.

Authority: no extreme-risk (ERPO) statute in the state code as of February 2026; Johns Hopkins National ERPO Resource Center state tracker.

No-Carry Signs - Not Criminal to Ignore

Pennsylvania has no firearms statute giving private 'no guns' signs independent force; exclusion runs through defiant trespass (18 Pa.C.S. § 3503(b)): entering where notice against trespass is given by posting reasonably likely to come to an intruder's attention is a summary offense, and defying a personal order to leave is a third-degree misdemeanor.

"NO FIREARMS" SIGN LAW
PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania has no firearms statute giving private 'no guns' signs independent force; exclusion runs through defiant trespass (18 Pa.C.S. § 3503(b)): entering where notice against trespass is given by posting reasonably likely to come to an intruder's attention is a summary offense, and defying a personal order to leave is a third-degree misdemeanor.

Authority: 18 Pa.C.S. § 3503(b) (defiant trespasser).

Vehicle Carry - License Required; Unlicensed Vehicle Carry Is a Felony

Pennsylvania: Carrying a handgun in any vehicle without a License to Carry Firearms is a third-degree felony (first-degree misdemeanor if you were license-eligible and committed no other crime) under 18 Pa.C.S. 6106(a) — even unloaded and cased, unless the trip fits an enumerated exception such as transporting unloaded to or from target practice, place of purchase, repair, or a change of residence (6106(b)); LTCF holders may carry loaded; rifles and shotguns must be unloaded in vehicles for everyone (18 Pa.C.S. 6106.1, summary offense).

VEHICLE CARRY - LICENSE REQUIRED; UNLICENSED VEHICLE CARRY IS A FELONY
Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: Carrying a handgun in any vehicle without a License to Carry Firearms is a third-degree felony (first-degree misdemeanor if you were license-eligible and committed no other crime) under 18 Pa.C.S. 6106(a) — even unloaded and cased, unless the trip fits an enumerated exception such as transporting unloaded to or from target practice, place of purchase, repair, or a change of residence (6106(b)); LTCF holders may carry loaded; rifles and shotguns must be unloaded in vehicles for everyone (18 Pa.C.S. 6106.1, summary offense).

Authority: 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. 6106(a)(1)-(2), (b); 18 Pa.C.S. 6106.1.