How Easy Is It To Buy A Gun In Pennsylvania?

PENNSYLVANIA — Recent mass shootings with high death tolls have renewed the gun debate in Pennsylvania.

Whether to regulate military-style semi-automatic rifles, the type used in a spate of deadly mass shootings, has been the focus of congressional inquiries and a proposed ban that passed the House of Representatives.

The legislation would restore the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that was allowed to expire in 2004, making it illegal to sell, manufacture, transfer, possess or import assault weapons or large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. It has been referred to the Senate, where 10 Republicans would have to join Democrats to overcome a filibuster.

Without a ban, there are no federal prohibitions on the sale of this particular class of weapon. The right is not absolute, though.

Laws in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York prohibit these types of semi-automatic rifles. Both Minnesota and Virginia have some restrictions.

In Pennsylvania, however, there are currently no restrictions on the purchase and possession of semi-automatic rifles, although one state lawmaker recently announced legislation seeking to do just that.

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Bucks County Democrat, is the prime sponsor behind S.B. 1300, which would ban certain types of semi-automatic firearms.

On the federal level, despite the focus on semi-automatic rifles in the recently passed House assault weapons ban, handguns are actually used much more often in gun violence.

In Pennsylvania, obtaining a handgun requires both a state and federal background check at a Federal Firearms Licensee, or FFL, which is a gun dealer.

One must be 21 years old to purchase a handgun.

Adults who can legally own firearms in Pennsylvania are also able to apply for a carry permit, which in Pennsylvania is called a License To Carry Firearms.

Pennsylvania is a "shall-issue" state when it comes to carry licenses, meaning applicants who are not barred by law or who don't possess any disqualifying conditions are able to obtain a license to carry their firearm outside the home.

More information is offered here and here by the Pennsylvania State Police.

You can also learn more about Pennsylvania firearms laws through Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.

This link contains helpful information.

FBI crime data for 2020, when gun violence spiked to a 25-year high, showed handguns were involved in 59 percent of the 13,620 U.S. gun murders and non-negligent manslaughters.

Rifles, which include those of the semi-automatic variety often classified as 'assault weapons,' were used in just 3 percent of firearm homicides — not quite as often as hands, feet and fists — and shotguns were used in 1 percent of homicides. The type of firearm wasn’t specified in 36 percent of gun homicides.

It’s also important to note the FBI data isn’t complete because it’s based on information voluntarily submitted by law enforcement agencies around the country. In 2020, 15,875 of 18,623 law enforcement agencies completed reports.

Because of that, the total number of gun homicides is likely much higher. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows 19,384 U.S. gun homicides in 2020, based on death certificate information provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.

According to that data, there were 1,752 gun deaths in Pennsylvania in the year 2020.

The population of the Keystone State that year was close to 13 million people.