PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
Pennsylvania Atty. General Shapiro Cancels Reciprocity with Virginia :: 04/17/2018
As far as Pennsylvania is concerned, Idaho and Alabama are now in and Virginia is on its way out.
In fact, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Monday, in 30 days Virginians who try to carry concealed firearms in the Keystone state will be breaking the law.
Virginia's requirements for obtaining concealed carry permits fall too far below Pennsylvania's, so the Virginia permits will no longer be accepted as valid here.
Shapiro made that announcement during the launch of a new online site that tells Pennsylvania concealed carry permit holders which other states will recognize those permits as legal under reciprocity agreements. The reciprocity list in on the AG's web site, www.attorneygeneral.gov.
There are 29 states on that roster whose concealed carry permits are recognized by Pennsylvania, one more than when Shapiro ordered his staff to review Pennsylvania's concealed carry reciprocity deals with its sister states 10 months ago. Shapiro said 32 states accept concealed carry permits issued by Pennsylvania.
The unveiling of Shapiro's reciprocity list
comes amid the national debate on gun control spurred by several recent mass shootings.
Idaho and Alabama were added to Pennsylvania's reciprocity that list because they require background check as comprehensive as those Pennsylvania conducts before issuing permits, Shapiro said. As a result, the permits issued to Alabama and Idaho residents will be accepted here and vice versa, he said.
Virginia's removal from the list is due to that state's omission of mental health, juvenile delinquency, character and protection from abuse order checks on its background investigations for permit applicants, Shapiro said.
He said a 30-day notice is being issued by his office advising Virginia officials their permits will no longer be accepted as lawful in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania permits will continue to be recognized in Virginia, however, he said.
Shapiro said he commissioned the reciprocity exam to resolve confusion for the public and for law enforcement. He noted that last year his office received more than 100,000 inquiries on the interstate reciprocity issue.
For police, the online list will provide a rapid reference as to whether someone might be carrying a concealed gun illegally. "It gives law enforcement the tools at their fingertips...to make sure they get answers very quickly in the field," the AG said.
Abington Township Police Chief Pat Molloy
"With the click of a mouse an officer on the street can get this information," said Abbington Township Police Chief Patrick Molloy, one of several police officers at the news conference.
That will lead to stricter enforcement of existing gun laws, Shapiro said, specifically those designed to keep firearms out of the hands of unstable people.
"People say all the time, 'Enforce the laws that are on the books'," Shapiro said. "That is what we are doing."
Then he took a swipe at a measure under consideration in Congress, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, that would allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to tote a hidden gun anywhere in the U.S., regardless of state laws.
"The proposed law, I believe, is terrible policy," Shapiro said. "If we have a national standard you are accepting the weakest standard. And in the case of some states, no standard at all."
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/04/can_i_carry_a_concealed_gun_he.html
