Constitutional Carry in Pennsylvania: What the Law Allows

Constitutional Carry in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is NOT a constitutional carry state. Carrying a concealed firearm without a License to Carry Firearms (LTCF) is a third-degree felony under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106. Anyone who wants to carry concealed in Pennsylvania needs to apply for an LTCF through their county sheriff. If you live in Philadelphia, you apply through the chief of police instead.

That is the bottom line. The rest of this section explains what "constitutional carry" means, why Pennsylvania has not adopted it, the open-carry exception that often gets confused with permitless concealed carry, and what students should tell anyone asking whether they can skip the permit.

What "constitutional carry" means

In a constitutional carry state, an adult who is legally allowed to possess a firearm can also carry it concealed in public without first obtaining a permit. The license becomes optional, useful mostly for reciprocity when traveling to other states. As of 2025, roughly 29 states have adopted some form of constitutional or permitless carry. Pennsylvania is not one of them.

Pennsylvania still uses a "shall-issue" permit system. A resident who is 21 or older and meets the eligibility criteria in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109 has a right to receive an LTCF on application. The sheriff has 45 days to investigate, including a background check through the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS). The permit is valid for five years. But the permit is required, not optional, before you carry concealed.

The statute that controls: 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106

The criminal statute is short and direct. Under § 6106(a)(1):

Any person who carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license under this chapter commits a felony of the third degree.

Two practical things to note:

1. The vehicle rule is the same as the concealed-on-body rule. Carrying a firearm "in any vehicle" without an LTCF is the same offense as concealing one on your body. There is no separate "car carve-out." § 6106.1 also prohibits carrying loaded long guns (rifles and shotguns) in vehicles without qualifying for an exception.
2. The "home or fixed place of business" exception is narrow. You can keep and carry a firearm in your home or in your own business without a license. Once you step into your driveway, into a vehicle, or onto a public sidewalk with a concealed firearm, § 6106 applies.

If a person is otherwise eligible to receive an LTCF and committed no other crime, § 6106(a)(2) drops the grading from a third-degree felony to a first-degree misdemeanor. That is still a serious criminal charge, not a slap on the wrist, and it still ends any chance of getting a permit later.

Why open carry is not "constitutional carry"

This is where students get confused. Pennsylvania allows openly carried firearms in 66 of its 67 counties without a license. Some people loosely call that "constitutional carry." It is not. Two separate rules apply:

• Open carry without a license: Permitted statewide for adults 18 or older who can lawfully possess a firearm, except where prohibited by other law (see the OPEN_CARRY section). This is a statutory gap, not a constitutional rule. The legislature simply did not make open carry of a handgun a crime in most of the state.
• Concealed carry without a license: Prohibited everywhere in Pennsylvania under § 6106. Putting a coat over the holster, a shirt untucked, or the firearm in a vehicle turns a lawful open carry into a § 6106 felony.

Philadelphia (the only "city of the first class") has historically been treated as a separate jurisdiction. 18 Pa.C.S. § 6108 has long required an LTCF (or a § 6106(b) exemption) to carry any firearm on the public streets or public property in Philadelphia, including openly carried long guns and handguns.

In June 2025, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held § 6108 unconstitutional as applied in Commonwealth v. Sumpter, 340 A.3d 977 (Pa. Super. 2025). The decision narrows enforcement of the Philadelphia-only statute, but it does not change § 6106. Carrying concealed in Philadelphia without an LTCF is still a felony. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not yet weighed in on Sumpter or on the broader question of whether § 6108 survives Article I, § 21 scrutiny, and the Attorney General's enforcement posture as of the most recent corpus is uncertain. Confirm the current enforcement posture with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office before relying on Sumpter in any specific scenario, and treat Sumpter as a Superior Court decision that may be revisited rather than as a final pronouncement on § 6108.

The Pennsylvania Constitution does not currently authorize permitless concealed carry

Article I, § 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides that "the right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned." Constitutional carry advocates cite this language as broader than the federal Second Amendment.

The provision has not been read by Pennsylvania courts to invalidate the LTCF requirement. No Pennsylvania appellate court has invalidated § 6106 on Art. I § 21 grounds, and the statute has remained in continuous enforcement since 1972. The current state of the law: Article I, § 21 protects the right to keep and bear arms, but the General Assembly has imposed a license requirement for concealed carry, and that license requirement is being enforced as written.

Practitioners should not read this section as a holding that the statute is constitutionally bulletproof. It is a description of the absence of any decision striking § 6106 down. A future challenge under Article I, § 21, or under the federal Second Amendment after New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), remains theoretically possible. The point for instructors is operational: as of the most recent corpus, § 6106 is the controlling rule, and a student who carries concealed without an LTCF will be charged under it.

The § 6106(b) exceptions list

When this section says "no constitutional carry," it does not mean "you can never carry without an LTCF under any circumstance." Section 6106(b) lists narrow exceptions to the licensing requirement. These exceptions do not create a permitless concealed-carry right, but instructors should know they exist so a student does not misread the statute. The list includes constables, sheriffs, prison or jail wardens, and their deputies acting in the scope of their duties; members of the armed forces or National Guard while on duty; regularly enrolled members of any organization duly chartered to purchase or receive firearms from the United States or this Commonwealth; persons engaged in target shooting with rifle, pistol, or revolver going to or from their place of assembly while the firearm is unloaded and in a secure wrapper; persons in actual service as police officers; agents, messengers, and other employees of common carriers, banks, or business firms whose duties require them to protect money, valuables, or other property; persons licensed to hunt, take furbearers, or fish in this Commonwealth while engaged in hunting, trapping, or fishing; persons training dogs or instructing students in the safe handling of firearms; persons traveling to or from a target shooting, hunting, or other lawful activity, provided the firearm is unloaded and the ammunition is stored separately; and any person who possesses a valid and lawfully issued license to carry a firearm that has been issued under the laws of another state, regardless of whether a reciprocity agreement exists between the Commonwealth and the state under § 6109(k), so long as Pennsylvania has formally recognized that state's license. Each exception has its own statutory text and case law. None of them create a general right to carry concealed without a permit.

Pending legislation

Constitutional carry has been proposed in Pennsylvania repeatedly. None of the bills has become law:

• HB 1818 (2025), introduced by Rep. Frank Burns, is a proposed constitutional amendment that would, if approved by voters in two consecutive legislative sessions, enshrine the right to carry a concealed firearm without a permit in the Pennsylvania Constitution.
• HB 454 (2025), introduced by Rep. Aaron Bernstine, would create a two-tier system: no license required to carry concealed in Pennsylvania, with an optional LTCF retained for reciprocity in other states. The bill is in committee as of the most recent corpus and has not advanced to a floor vote.
• A constitutional carry bill passed both chambers of the General Assembly several years ago and was vetoed by then-Gov. Tom Wolf. A subsequent veto override did not succeed.

Both pieces of pending legislation are in committee as of the most recent corpus and have not become law. Until one of them passes, § 6106 controls. Treat constitutional carry in Pennsylvania as a policy debate, not a current legal status. Check the General Assembly's bill tracker or the Pennsylvania Attorney General's website for the latest status before telling a student "the law just changed."

What to tell students

If a student asks any version of "do I really need the permit?", the answer in Pennsylvania is yes:

• Concealed on the body, anywhere outside the home or fixed business: LTCF required. Felony of the third degree without one.
• In a vehicle, loaded or unloaded, handgun or long gun: LTCF required (or a § 6106(b) exception, such as transporting a firearm unloaded and in a secure wrapper between specified destinations). Felony of the third degree without one.
• Open carry of a handgun outside Philadelphia: No license required for adults 18 or older who can lawfully possess a firearm, but the moment it becomes concealed (including in a vehicle), § 6106 applies.
• Any carry on public streets in Philadelphia: LTCF required by statute under § 6108. The 2025 Sumpter decision created an "as applied" challenge avenue. Until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court resolves the question, the safe assumption is to follow § 6108 and § 6106 as written.
• Reciprocity: A nonresident with a valid permit from a state recognized by Pennsylvania may carry concealed under § 6106(b)(15), but the underlying license requirement is still a license requirement. This is not constitutional carry.

The bottom-line message for a Pennsylvania CCW student: get the permit. The application goes to your county sheriff (or the Philadelphia chief of police), and the only way to legally carry concealed in this state is to hold a valid LTCF.