Pennsylvania Laws Relating to Workplace Violence

A summary of Pennsylvania laws relating to weapons and conduct that impact workplace violence.

In Pennsylvania it is unlawful for any person to carry a firearm in any vehicle or concealed about the person, except in the individual's place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license. The licensing requirement does not apply to:

• law enforcement officials
• military personnel when on duty
• regularly enrolled members of any organization duly organized to purchase or receive firearms from the U.S. or from Pennsylvania
• persons engaged in target shooting with a firearm, if the persons are at or going to or from their places of assembly or target practice and if, while going to or from their places of assembly or target practice, the firearm is not loaded
• officers or employees of the United States duly authorized to carry a concealed firearm
• agents, messengers and other employees of common carriers, banks and business firms whose duties require them to protect money, valuables and other property
• persons engaged in the manufacture, repair or dealing in firearms, in the usual and ordinary course of such business
• any person while carrying a firearm that is unloaded and in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to the person's home or place of business, or to a place of repair, sale or appraisal or back to his or her home or place of business, or in moving from one place of abode or business to another or from his or her home to a vacation or recreational home or dwelling or back, or to recover stolen property, or to a place of instruction intended to teach the safe handling, use or maintenance of firearms or back or to a location to which the person has been directed to relinquish firearms or back upon return of the relinquished firearm or to a licensed dealer's place of business for relinquishment or back upon return of the relinquished firearm or to a location for safekeeping or back upon return of the relinquished firearm
• persons licensed to hunt, take fur bearers or fish in Pennsylvania, if the persons are actually hunting, taking fur bearers or fishing as permitted by such license, or are going to the places where they desire to hunt, take fur bearers or fish or returning from these places
• persons training dogs while actually training dogs during the regular training season
• any person while carrying a firearm in a vehicle, which person possesses a valid and lawfully issued license for that firearm that has been issued under the laws of the United States or any other state
• a person who has a lawfully issued license to carry a firearm and that license expired within six months prior to the date of arrest and that the individual is otherwise eligible for renewal of the license
• any person who is otherwise eligible to possess a firearm under Pennsylvania law and who is operating a motor vehicle that is registered in the person's name or the name of a spouse or parent and that contains a firearm for which a valid license has been issued to the spouse or parent owning the firearm
• a person lawfully engaged in the interstate transportation of a firearm in compliance with applicable federal law
• any person who possesses a valid and lawfully issued license or permit to carry a firearm that has been issued under the laws of another state, regardless of whether a reciprocity agreement exists between Pennsylvania and the state, subject to specified conditions

A person may not carry a firearm, rifle or shotgun on a public street or on any public property during a state or municipal emergency unless the person is actively engaged in defending his or her life or property, is licensed to carry the weapon or is exempt from the licensing requirement.