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Legal Information: Pennsylvania

State Gun Laws

Laws current as of December 15, 2023

I am a victim of domestic violence and the abuser has a gun. Is that legal?

It depends.  If you have a PFA order in which the judge told the abuser to give up his firearms, it would be illegal for the abuser to have a gun.1

Also, even if you don’t have a PFA order, it may be illegal for the abuser to have a gun if s/he has been convicted of certain drug crimes, felony crimes (including stalking, assault, kidnapping, and many others), is a fugitive from justice, or has been declared mentally incompetent.2  For more information, go to If the abuser has been convicted of a crime, can he keep a gun or buy a new gun?

Also, federal laws, which apply to all states, restrict a person’s right to have a gun under certain circumstances such as when the abuser has been convicted of certain domestic violence-related crimes or if you have an order of protection against the abuser that meets certain requirements.  Go to Federal Gun Laws to get more information.

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6105(c)(6)
2 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6105(b) & (c)

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