There is no question that gun crime is a serious problem in Pennsylvania’s cities such as Philadelphia. At a time when Police Departments have been forced to downsize and prioritize due to severe budget cuts, law enforcement have been stretched to the limit. This could be one factor in giving violent criminals more bravado.
If Kathleen Kane, Pennsylvania’s newly elected Attorney General is really serious about fighting violent gun crime, then there are some issues that she needs to get accurate information about so that she does not waste precious resources in this time of economic distress and budgetary shortfalls.
Kane is an investigator. She had better get her facts right. Dr. Bruce Eimer of Personal Defense Solutions, a Pennsylvania firearms training company, is offering to help her obtain correct information about this issue.
THE SO-CALLED “FLORIDA GUN PERMIT LOOPHOLE”
Democratic Politicians and the Philadelphia Police Department have for some time made a big ado about a so-called “Florida Gun Permit Loophole”. The print news media, for example, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and television news have capitalized on this attention and made it in a “big scoop”. Unfortunately, the media have spread serious mis-information, and some politicians have either knowingly or unknowingly capitalized on this mis-information to further their political agendas.
1. When a Pennsylvania resident has a non-resident FloridaGun Permit, this does not make it legal for that person to purchase a gun legally in PA.
2. Legal purchase of a handgun in PA is governed by Federal and PA Law and requires that the TRANSFER of the handgun be conducted live, in real time, and face to face, in PA, through a PA licensed firearms dealer who has an up to date Federal Firearms License or FFL (i.e., an FFL Dealer).
3. At the time of the transfer, the person whose name the gun is going to be registered as the new owner of the gun must be present with the FFL dealer while a call is made on a special phone line to the PA State Police PA Instant Check System (PICS). The State Police conduct an instant criminal and mental health history background check on the gun purchaser right then and there.
4. To buy a handgun in PA, you must be a resident of PA. YOU DO NOT NEED ANY TYPE OF PERMIT. You must fill out a 4473 and at the time of the transfer of the gun into your possession by the FFL dealer, a NICS (National Instant Check System) and PA State Police Instant Check (PICS) is conducted with the PA State Police over the special PA State Police phone line.
5. If you are moving into or transiting, visiting PA, you may bring your guns with you without any type of permit or registration.
6. You DO NEED a PA License to Carry Firearms (LTCF), or License To Carry Firearms (LTCF), from another state with which Pennsylvania has gun permit reciprocity in order to legally carry a loaded handgun in Pennsylvania.
7. Loaded long guns may not be carried in cars or otherwise, except under special conditions when hunting legally in PA.
8. You need a PA LTCF or valid reciprocal state LTCF or CCW gun permit, in order to legally carry a concealed gun. Reciprocity laws can be found on the website, www.HandgunLaw.US or on the PA Attorney General’s website.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PROCESS FOR GETTING A PENNSYLVANIA VERSUS A FLORIDA GUN PERMIT:
There is NO Florida Gun Permit loophole for buying a gun in PA. However, there is ANOTHER ISSUE:
To get a LTCF in PA, you must apply in the county in which you reside. It is true that in Philadelphia, there have been some people who have been denied a LTCF by the Philly Police, and who have applied for the Florida Gun Permit and gotten it. Is that a loophole? I do not think so.
If we examine these cases on a case by case basis, we find that in the majority of cases, when the Philly PD denials were based on legitimate reasons (i.e., that they followed PA Law), such as disqualifying the applicant on the basis of a history of criminal felonies or a history of involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations (i.e., 302′s), these people did not pass the rigorous Florida LTCF application process, when they applied for a Florida gun permit.
On the other hand, when folks were denied in Philly based on illegitimate reasons, such as unpaid parking tickets, or a negative subjective impression by the Philly Police interviewer of the applicant on the brief administrative interview, they sometimes did receive their Florida gun permit.
But what is the difference between applying for a Pennsylvania LTCF, or PA gun permit, or concealed carry permit, and applying for non-resident Florida LTCF or CCW Permit?
Pennsylvania does NOT require any pre-requisite training.
Florida does require that the applicant pass an appropriate firearms class given by an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor that covers:
1. Gun Safety
2. Federal and State Laws on the use of force and the use of deadly force
3. Concealed Carry Laws
4. Concealed carry methods
5. The pitfalls of open carry
6. The safe use of operation of firearms
7. The ethics regarding the use of force and deadly force
8. The judicious use of deadly force and less lethal force
9. How to solve social conflicts and ways to avoid having to use force
10. Self defense rights and obligations of all citizens, and
11. A live qualification on the gun range in which the firearms instructor observes the student/applicant safely discharge a handgun.
CONCLUSION:
Now, armed with this information, where is the loophole? There is none!
Trained legally armed concealed firearm permit holders (civilians) have a much much better and safer performance record.
As President and CEO my little firearms training company, Personal Defense Solutions, LLC, www.PersonalDefenseSolutions.net I will offer the new Attorney General, Kathleen Kane and her staff free training on firearms safety and all of the above topics if AG Kane is willing to meet the following conditions:
1. If PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane will personally and publicly acknowledge to me and the press that she has personally read my blog and my posts on this topic, and my writings on the insanity of gun control,
www.personaldefensesolutions.net/articles.htm
and…
2. If after reading this material, PA Attorney General Kane will acknowledge to me and the press that maybe she has been misinformed and wrong in her overzealous campaigning about this so-called “Florida Loophole”, meaning that she acknowledges that that ARMED and TRAINED responsible citizens can be a deterrent to gun accidents and gun crime, and thus, an asset to Public Safety, then….
3. I will provide a limited amount of essential free training to AG Kane and her staff. See www.PersonalDefenseSolutions.net
All that the new PA Attorney General needs to do is:
- Read my blog and my articles, AND…..
- Publicly to the press and to me, acknowledge that she has a different perspective on the so-called Florida Gun Permit Loophole now.
More guns in trained hands, less violent crime!
What do you say Attorney General Kane? Are you ready for some REAL Gun Control in Pennsylvania? I’ll bet our law abiding citizens and police officers are ready.”
Let us at Personal Defense Solutions help you.
Give me a call… 215-938-7283 (938-SAVE)
dr.eimer1@comcast.net
REMEMBER: VIOLENT CRIMINALS DO NOT APPLY FOR LICENSES TO CARRY FIREARMS BEFORE THEY GO OUT AND COMMIT GUN VIOLENCE. GUN VIOLENCE IS ALREADY ILLEGAL!
Only law abiding citizens apply for gun permits; that is, Licenses To Carry Firearms.
THE PROBLEMS OF ILLEGAL GUNS ON THE STREET IS ANOTHER PROBLEM, AND A BIG ONE, FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT TO TACKLE WITH LIMITED RESOURCES. DO NOT WASTE LIMITED RESOURCES ON A NON-ISSUE.
PUT OUR MONEY WHERE IT BELONGS — ON FIGHTING VIOLENT CRIME.
