Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Pa. lawmaker proposes bill to skirt Phila. gun-permit process

A state senator 150 miles from Philadelphia proposed gun legislation to loosen the city's concealed-weapons permitting process.

State Sen. Richard Alloway II
State Sen. Richard Alloway IIRead more

A STATE SENATOR whose district is more than 150 miles away from Philadelphia has proposed gun legislation that's targeted at loosening the city's process for issuing concealed-handgun permits.

Sen. Richard Alloway II, R-Chambersburg, circulated a memo to search for cosponsors this week for a bill that would allow state residents to get their permit to carry a concealed weapon from a county adjacent to their home county.

If the fledgling bill were to pass, Philadelphia residents would be able to go to a suburban county to get their permits instead of in Philadelphia, as they are currently required to do.

"We consider that to be a major problem," said state Sen. Larry Farnese, D-Philadelphia.

For years, gun-rights advocates have claimed that the Philadelphia Police Department's Gun Permit Unit has far more rigorous requirements for obtaining a concealed-carry permit than other counties, which issue permits through their sheriff's offices.

Philadelphia relies heavily on a clause in current law that allows officials to deny a concealed-carry permit based on character and reputation alone. For instance, if someone has a dozen arrests but no convictions, the Gun Permit Unit can use the character clause to deny that person a license.

Previously, residents who were denied permits in Pennsylvania could get theirs through the mail from Florida, which became known as the "Florida loophole."

Those Florida permits had to be honored here because of a reciprocity agreement, but in February State Attorney General Kathleen Kane closed the loophole.

Alloway said he supported the closure of the Florida loophole and denies that his bill would create another loophole.

He said he proposed the legislation because he's heard from Philadelphians and "organizations that represent the interest of gun owners" that say the police department has been denying permits for "questionable reasons" or delaying them "for what they say is a backlog."

Alloway was quoted in the Chambersburg Public Opinion yesterday as saying he believed the city does this "simply because their (sic) anti-gun." Yesterday, he denied making that statement.

Farnese said that argument is "ridiculous."

"It pisses me off when I hear people from other parts of the state say Philadelphia is anti-gun or anti-Second Amendment," he said. "We are anti people that are carrying guns illegally on the streets of Philadelphia.

"It would be like me going around and trying to impose a tax on dairy farmers in agricultural parts of the state where those lawmakers are best equipped to handle the issue," he said. "You don't see Philadelphia legislators poking their nose in those issues. We would like the same reciprocity."

When asked why he thought a politician from south-central Pennsylvania should address Philadelphia gun laws, Alloway said, "because I'm just advocating for what the Constitution and state law says.

"People from Philadelphia always try to make that argument about me sticking my nose in their business," Alloway said. "I don't know why they think they can ignore the Constitution because obviously they disagree with my philosophy."

Police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said the department believes it should retain control over who receives permits in Philadelphia.

"It would weaken our efforts to maintain that integrity and it would essentially recreate the Florida loophole, but this time, within the commonwealth," Stanford said.

Online: ph.ly/crime

Blog: ph.ly/Delco