The PA Superior Court has held that 18 § 6108 is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Section 6108 provides:
No person shall carry a firearm, rifle or shotgun at any time upon the public streets or upon any public property in a city of the first class unless:
(1) such person is licensed to carry a firearm; or
(2) such person is exempt from licensing under section 6106(b) of this title (relating to firearms not to be carried without a license).
Sumpter appealed from a twelve-month sentence of probation for openly carrying a firearm in the City of Philadelphia without a license in violation of 18 Pa.C.S.A.§ 6108.
“Police observed Appellant walking on a street in Philadelphia with the handle of a handgun visibly protruding from his waistband. Appellant stated he was carrying the weapon for self-defense due to the amount of shootings in the vicinity. He was detained, arrested, and convicted of violating § 6108.”
“Philadelphia is the only city of the first class in Pennsylvania, and therefore the only place in the Commonwealth where the open (as opposed to concealed) carry of a firearm requires a license. In all other areas of the Commonwealth, unlicensed open carry is permitted at age 18. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6110.1(a). Persons applying for a carry license in Pennsylvania must be 21 years of age. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6109(b).”
“Appellant claim[ed] § 6108 unlawfully burdens his right to equal protection under the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions because it impinges his fundamental right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.”
“In sum, [the Superior Court concluded] that § 6108 is unconstitutional on an equal protection basis as applied to the Appellant. The right to keep and bear arms outside the home is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment. Section 6108 requires persons who wish to openly carry a firearm on public streets and public property in Philadelphia to obtain a carry license. Open carry without a license is lawful for those 18 years of age and older elsewhere in the Commonwealth but criminal in Philadelphia. Thus, § 6108 places persons within the City of Philadelphia at a special disadvantage in the exercise of their Second Amendment right.”
Lastly, it is worthy to note that the Superior Court did “not address the overlap between § 6108 and § 6106, insofar as both statutes criminalize unlicensed concealed carry within the city of Philadelphia and therefore subject violators in Philadelphia to two convictions for that offense” because that issue was not before the Court.
COMMONWEALTH v. SUMPTER, No. 2271 EDA 2023 (Pa. Super. 06/23/2025).
