Carrying a Gun in Your Car in Pennsylvania

The controlling statute is 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106, "Firearms not to be carried without a license," part of Pennsylvania's Uniform Firearms Act. The operative language reads:

"Except as provided in paragraph (2), any person who carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license under this chapter commits a felony of the third degree."

Read that sentence again. It lists two separate things: carrying a firearm "in any vehicle," and carrying a firearm "concealed on or about his person." Only the second one has the word "concealed" attached to it. The vehicle clause doesn't care whether the gun is hidden under a jacket or sitting in plain view on the dashboard. If it's in the vehicle without a license and you don't fit an exception, you're in violation.

What counts as a "firearm" for this section matters too. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6102, "firearm" means any pistol or revolver with a barrel under 15 inches, any shotgun with a barrel under 18 inches, any rifle with a barrel under 16 inches, or any pistol, revolver, rifle, or shotgun with an overall length under 26 inches. In practice that covers every handgun and any short-barreled long gun. A full-length hunting rifle or shotgun that's longer than those thresholds falls outside 6106 entirely, but it isn't a free pass: 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106.1 makes it a separate summary offense to carry a loaded pistol, revolver, shotgun, or rifle that doesn't meet the 6106 definition in a vehicle, unless you fall under one of the law enforcement, military, or dealer exceptions, or Title 34's game law provisions apply.

The commute with a pistol and no license. You keep a handgun in the center console for the drive to work on the PA Turnpike and you've never applied for an LTC. That's a straight violation of 6106(a), full stop. There's no "it was unloaded" or "it was in a locked case" defense built into the base statute the way some other states write it. Unless you land in one of the listed exceptions below, you're exposed.

The hunting trip. You're driving to State Game Lands with an unloaded 12-gauge on the back seat. If that shotgun's barrel is 18 inches or longer and its overall length tops 26 inches, it isn't a "firearm" under 6106 at all, so the LTC requirement doesn't apply to it. But under 6106.1 it still has to stay unloaded in the vehicle unless you qualify for an exception, and Title 34's hunting regulations layer on their own rules once you're actually in the field. If instead you're carrying a handgun for the hunt, you need both your hunting license and a separate Sportsman's Firearm Permit issued by the county treasurer under 6106(c), because 6106(b)(9)'s hunting exception only kicks in once you've secured that permit.

Moving day. You're driving a loaded U-Haul from an apartment in State College to a new place in Scranton with a handgun, unloaded and in a secure wrapper. That's covered by 6106(b)(8), the exception for moving a firearm between places of abode.

The out-of-state traveler passing through. A driver from Ohio heading west on I-80 with a loaded pistol in the glovebox, carrying only an Ohio concealed carry license, is covered for vehicle carry under 6106(b)(11), which recognizes "a valid and lawfully issued license for that firearm which has been issued under the laws of the United States or any other state," with no reciprocity agreement required for that specific exception. The moment that same driver steps out of the car and wants to carry concealed on their body at a rest stop, they need either a reciprocity agreement between Pennsylvania and their home state, or inclusion on the Attorney General's list of recognized licenses under 6106(b)(15).

The traffic stop. An officer who stops you and has reason to believe you're carrying can lawfully demand to see your license under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6122(a). Failure to produce it "either at the time of arrest or at the preliminary hearing shall create a rebuttable presumption of nonlicensure." If you're relying on one of the 6106(b) exceptions instead of a license, the same section requires you to produce "satisfactory evidence of qualification for exception" on demand.

Section 6106(b) lists the people and situations exempt from the license requirement. The major categories:

Per the Pennsylvania State Police, as of October 2, 2026 there were 1,628,194 active LTC permits and 8,307 active Sportsman's Firearm Permits statewide. The PSP's own guidance is direct on this point: an LTC "allows individuals to carry a firearm concealed on their body or in a vehicle," and a Sportsman's Firearm Permit "is NOT a License to Carry a firearm concealed."

In Philadelphia, a separate statute, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6108, prohibits carrying a firearm, rifle, or shotgun on public streets or public property in the city without a license, unless you qualify for a 6106(b) exception. It doesn't change the vehicle analysis under 6106, but it layers another restriction onto carrying once you're out of the car within city limits.

In July 2024, a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled in Suarez v. PSP Commissioner (formerly captioned against the sitting PSP Commissioner, now proceeding as Suarez v. Paris) that the state's emergency-carry provision and its vehicle-carry restriction under 6106 were unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. In mid-September 2024, the court granted the Commissioner's request to stay that ruling while the case goes up on appeal to the Third Circuit (case no. 24-2395). As of this writing, that appeal remains pending and the stay remains in place, which means 6106's license requirement for vehicle carry is still being enforced exactly as written above. If the Third Circuit eventually affirms the district court, that would change. It hasn't happened yet.

"It was in plain view, so that's open carry and legal." Open carry on your body is generally legal in Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia without a license. Inside a vehicle, visibility doesn't matter. The 6106(a) vehicle clause applies regardless of whether the gun is concealed.

"I had it unloaded and locked in the trunk, so I'm covered." Pennsylvania doesn't have a general "unloaded and cased" safe harbor for handguns the way some states do. You still need to fit one of the specific 6106(b) exceptions, such as moving residences or heading to a repair shop, not just "it was secured."

"My hunting license covers me to carry a pistol while I drive around during season." It doesn't, by itself. You need the separate Sportsman's Firearm Permit from the county treasurer, and the exception only applies while you're actually hunting, trapping, or fishing, or going to or from it.

"Federal law always lets me drive through with my guns." The federal interstate transportation protection under 18 U.S.C. § 926A has its own strict conditions (unloaded, inaccessible from the driver's compartment, ammunition stored separately) and applies to travel between two places where possession is lawful. It isn't a blanket exemption for driving around inside Pennsylvania.

"PA's vehicle carry law got struck down, so I don't need a license anymore." A district court did rule that way in 2024, but the ruling was stayed on appeal within weeks and hasn't been reinstated. The license requirement remains in force.

• 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106, Firearms not to be carried without a license: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.061.006.000..HTM
• 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106.1, Carrying loaded weapons other than firearms: https://law.justia.com/codes/pennsylvania/title-18/chapter-61/section-6106-1/
• 18 Pa.C.S. § 6102, Definitions: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.061.002.000..HTM
• 18 Pa.C.S. § 6108, Carrying firearms on public streets or public property in Philadelphia: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.061.008.000..HTM
• 18 Pa.C.S. § 6122, Proof of license and exception: https://law.justia.com/codes/pennsylvania/2021/title-18/chapter-61/section-6122/
• 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1103, 1104, 1105, sentencing and fines: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.011.001.000..HTM
• Pennsylvania State Police, Carrying Firearms in Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/psp/programs/firearms/carrying-firearms-in-pennsylvania

Last Reviewed: October 14, 2026