Autoloading firearms with high-capacity magazines often are the weapon of choice for mass shootings in the United States. The weapons reload the chamber automatically, meaning it takes just one pull of the trigger to discharge a bullet, resulting in a higher rate of fire in a shorter amount of time.
Others argue that just as much carnage can be wrought by guns with a lower rate of fire and it’s wrong to target autoloaders in particular for regulation in the attempt to minimize casualties from mass shootings.
It doesn’t matter what kind of gun it is — they’re all equally obtainable in Pennsylvania.
The one exception is if you’re buying a long gun (autoloading, high-capacity rifle or antique muzzleloader) from a gun show or other private sale/transfer. In that case, a background check isn’t required. The check is still required for private sales of all handguns.
To buy a gun, commercially, in Pennsylvania, one may go to a licensed gun store, complete an instant background check, sign the papers, hand over the money and walk out with the weapon.
On average, the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) background check costs $20 for handgun purchases and $25 for a long gun purchase. There is no waiting period.
Through the PICS, approximately 91 percent of people purchasing a firearm can be approved while on the initial call, according to the state police, which implemented the program in 1998.
Firearm dealers and county sheriffs call a toll-free number to access the PICS program and conduct an instant background check on individuals to determine eligibility.
Police said individuals with a common name may take a little more time just to make sure they are being matched with the correct background record.
To pass a background check, one must be at least 18 years of age; can never have been convicted of a violent crime; must not be an undocumented immigrant, declared mentally ill by the court, a drug addict or habitual drunkard, a fugitive from justice, have been convicted of three separate DUI charges within a five-year period or subject to an active protection from abuse order, according to the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Records and Identification Firearms Division.
If a person is convicted of a crime which prohibits them from possessing firearms, they have 60 days from the date of conviction to sell or transfer their firearms to someone outside of their household.
Again, if this private sale/transfer is of a long gun like a rifle, a background check is not required by state law.
Owning and operating firearms does not legally require testing, training or getting a license like getting a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle.
In Pennsylvania, even minors can possess or transport any gun under adult supervision.
Individuals in the state are permitted to open-carry firearms as long as the firearm is in plain view.
When concealing a firearm, individuals must obtain a concealed carry permit from the local sheriff’s office.
To carry the weapon under a jacket or in a pocket or transport a loaded gun in a car, one must be at least 21 years old and complete a separate application at the county level for a “license to carry,” which can take up to 45 days, according to state police.
For private sales, a background check is still needed to buy handguns. Such sales must go through a licensed dealer. Licensed dealers must provide locking devices with handguns unless the handgun has a locking device incorporated in its design.
When purchasing a handgun from a private dealer, the individual is legally required to complete a firearm transfer at a federally licensed dealer. There is a $2 fee for the instant check and a $3 firearm sale surcharge to cover telephone costs.
Transfers of handguns between spouses, parent and child, grandparent and grandchild or between active law enforcement officers are exempt from the requirements.
Article 1, section 21 of theConstitution of Pennsylvania states, “The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.”
Pennsylvania has “state preemption,” which means only state laws, not local laws, regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components.
Most items that are required to be registered under the National Firearms Act (NFA) — such as machine guns, suppressors and short-barreled rifles/shotguns — are only prohibited in Pennsylvania as “offensive weapons” if they are not registered under the NFA.
There are no regulations for the sale, purchase or possession of ammunition, except for armor-piercing ammunition, which is illegal in Pennsylvania.
The last major piece of gun-control legislation to make it into law was the federal assault weapons ban, which passed in 1994 as part of a larger crime-related bill approved by Congress and signed by then-President Bill Clinton.
But the ban, which applied to the manufacture of 19 specific models of autoloading firearms and other guns with similar features, expired in 2004, and repeated attempts to renew it failed.
