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Norristown open carry event

Nicholas A.

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Messages
64
Location
MD
I live down in Maryland and wanted to check with some of the members from PA to make sure out of state residents wont have any issues. The reason I am asking is I had seen that there is a pro 2nd amendment rally and march on the main street side of the Norristown Court House. I would love to hear everyone's in put both on legallity for out of state residents and also a march and rally going to a court house
 

Curmudgeon

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
307
Location
York, Pennsylvania, USA
Without going in to the question of legality for the Maryland leg of your journey, do you have a license/permit from a state
that PA honors? In PA you may only transport handguns unloaded and to a very limited list of exceptions. You may transport
or carry loaded, in your vehicle, with a permit/license from any state, but if you conceal carry you must have a license/permit
from a state that PA honors.

Unlicensed open carry is by foot only, and Norristown is quite a walk from the Maryland line!

I figure we can cover any other questions once we clear these hurdles. :cool:
 

Nicholas A.

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Messages
64
Location
MD
I just got my Virginia non-resident concealed carry permit which sadly I have learned late last year that PA no longer honors the non-resident permit. I will be putting an application in for utah concealed carry permit
 

Curmudgeon

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
307
Location
York, Pennsylvania, USA
PA does not honor your VA permit for conceal carry, but does honor it for loaded open carry in or on any vehicle, anywhere in PA that you want to go EXCEPT Philadelphia.

A Utah permit wouldn't be a bad idea though. I have one as well, though not for PA carry.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

Nicholas A.

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Messages
64
Location
MD
I'm going to be getting a Utah concealed carry permit but that will come later on. Now on to the second part of the post, what is your thoughts for an out of state resident or even in state residents not just going to an open carry rally/march on a court house? I just dont want to be inviting problems
 

Curmudgeon

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
307
Location
York, Pennsylvania, USA
I'm going to be getting a Utah concealed carry permit but that will come later on. Now on to the second part of the post, what is your thoughts for an out of state resident or even in state residents not just going to an open carry rally/march on a court house? I just dont want to be inviting problems

You may be asking the wrong person, I'm a PA resident, and I open carry everywhere I can legally.
I have also attended quite a few rallies over the 5 years I have been carrying, here in York County
and York City, at various parks as well as one in front of our own court house. I have also attended
rallies or events at the State Capitol in Harrisburg, in the City of Hanover, In Philadelphia, and in
Beaver County (north east of Pittsburgh). All open carry. This is in addition to my day-to-day
activities, again all open carry. We have a large 2A rally every year on the steps of the Capitol in
Harrisburg Which I have attended (OC) every year since I started carrying in 2008.

I have had, literally, 100s of encounters with folks and every one was positive, and I have had more
than a dozen "encounters" with law enforcement officers from all over York county and city, PA State
Police, and Philly PD. again, all positive. I would expect your experiences to be the same as mine,
although it must be said that some folks have had and still occasionally have bad encounters.
I have met several MD residents who crossed the state line to join us at some of our events and
meet-and-greets. Your mileage may vary! For what it's worth, I was born and raised in Baltimore
County and lived there for 49 years, finally moving to PA in 2005. It is mostly a different world up
here as far as firearms go, from my experience.

PA makes no exceptions or prohibitions regarding the state of residence, with the following exceptions:

> By state law, in Philadelphia, in order to legally carry open or concealed, you must have either a PA LTCF or a
license/permit from a state PA honors.

> By federal law, you must have a PA LTCF to legally carry open or concealed with 1000' of K-12 school
grounds.

> By state law you cannot carry open or concealed during a declared state-of-emergency. We are currently
under a declared state-of-emergency until January 25, unless the governor extends it. I mention this because
I don't know the date of your rally. If you think this will affect you I can research further to see how your VA
permit falls in to this.

There are no restrictions regarding carry on PA court house grounds, or near PA court houses. Furthermore, if
your activities require you to enter a PA court house, the security people are required by law to provide lockers
to secure your firearm so you may proceed unarmed past the security check point.
Federal court houses are another matter.

If you are contemplating open carry to any kind of 2A rally in PA, I can tell you from my experiences you will
absolutely not be the only one there. Not by a long shot. I know many PA residents who conceal nearly 100%
of the time but will OC at one of these rallies.

I hope this answers your questions. If not, ask away!
If you proceed with your plans I wish you good luck and hope you enjoy your visit.
 
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