Denied gun permits in the state of Pennsylvania have found a loophole in the system. Increasingly, residents near Penn have turned to Florida to legally carry concealed firearms.
Pennsylvania honors the gun permits issued by 24 other states, including Florida, whose permit application can be completed from out of state.
The highest concentration of Florida permits found in the state is in the 19143 zip code, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 19143 zip code, which lies west of Clark Park, abuts the 19104 area code that encompasses the University.
Like many states, Pennsylvania firearm laws deny gun permits to those with prior convictions or pending cases. However, Pennsylvania’s laws contain a character provision that Florida’s does not.
Chief of Philadelphia Gun Violence Task Force Bryan Lentz explained the importance of this character provision.
Someone may be arrested for shooting another person, but in some cases a witness does not cooperate in court and the perpetrator gets away with the crime, Lentz said. When that perpetrator applies for a gun permit, even though he was not convicted of a crime, Pennsylvania has the right to deny him a gun permit based on the character provision.
However, when Florida reviews the permit application, seeing an arrest but no conviction, the perpetrator may be awarded a permit which must be honored in Pennsylvania.
This “creates a loophole,” Lentz said. “It allows local people to go around local law enforcement.”
The number of people looking to Florida for permits has increased in recent years. In 2005, only three Florida permits were issued to the 19143 zip code, according to the Inquirer. Today, that number is 70.
However, this increase in permits may not pose a direct threat to Penn.
Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said although Penn Police has made “plenty of arrests for [illegal] firearms,” shootings are not a particular concern in the Penn Patrol Zone.
She added there are no guns allowed on Penn property, including open areas such as Penn Park.
“The laws are affecting law-abiding citizens,” Penn Shooting Club President and College senior Cille Kissel said. “Criminals aren’t abiding the laws” and will carry concealed firearms with or without a permit to do so.
A carjacking that occurred on Nov. 21, 2010, ended in a shooting between suspects and police on 40th and Locust streets. Both alleged carjackers were carrying guns without permits to carry them, Division of Public Safety spokeswoman Stef Karp said.
Still, Kissel appreciates that individual states have “the power to make their own laws” surrounding firearms.
Although there have been efforts in Harrisburg and Philadelphia to pass legislation requiring a Pennsylvania gun permit to carry concealed weapons within the state, “that legislation is not going anywhere” anytime soon, Lentz said.
In addition, the pending National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act — which would force most states to honor every gun permit issued in the country — “would make it all irrelevant.”
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