Right to Carry for Non-Violent Felons in Pennsylvania
New rulings in the federal and state courts have extended the Second Amendment right to carry firearms to individuals convicted of non-violent felonies in Pennsylvania. Don’t lose your Second Amendment right to a non-violent felony conviction. Retain the LLF Law Firm’s premier criminal defense attorneys now to defend your criminal charges for unlawful weapons possession based on a prior non-violent felony, asserting your Second Amendment right to carry. Call 888-535-3686 or chat with us for our skilled and effective help defending your Pennsylvania criminal charges based on your Second Amendment right.
New Federal Second Amendment Rulings
Last year, the Supreme Court in United States v. Rahimi, 144 S. Ct. 1889 (2024), rejected that states may deprive citizens of their Second Amendment right to carry simply because a citizen is not sufficiently responsible.
The Rahimi decision promptly led to the en banc Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in the Pennsylvania federal case Range v Attorney General, 124 F4th 218 (3d Cir 2024), that a citizen continues to have a Second Amendment right to carry firearms despite a state court non-violent felony conviction. The Pennsylvania claimant in that case had suffered a state welfare fraud conviction carrying up to a five-year prison sentence. A federal firearms statute barred the claimant, who wanted to deer hunt with a rifle and own a shotgun for self-defense, from carrying any firearm. The federal appellate court threw out the ban and restored the claimant’s Second Amendment right.
A New State Court Second Amendment Ruling
Then, in January 2025, a judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas held in C. v Anderson, 2024 WL 5205507 (Pa. Super. 2024) (unpublished), that an unlawful weapons possession conviction cannot stand, where the court-based the conviction on a weapons ban related to a prior non-violent felony conviction. Prosecutors in that case had charged the defendant with unlawful possession of a weapon based on a prior conviction for possession of drugs with intent to deliver (PWID), a non-violent felony. Relying on the above Rahimi and Range decisions, the Pennsylvania court threw out the weapons charge and conviction.
The Significance of the Rulings
The above federal appellate decision in a Pennsylvania case, together with the Pennsylvania state court decision, are now persuasive authority in Pennsylvania state criminal proceedings. Those decisions may not be controlling authority in your specific criminal case. However, our skilled and experienced attorneys can cite and advocate those decisions for dismissal of your weapons possession charge if the grounds for that charge are that you had a prior non-violent felony conviction.
Skilled Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Available
If you face Pennsylvania unlawful weapons possession charges based on a prior non-violent felony conviction, retain the LLF Law Firm for skilled and experienced defense attorney representation based on your Second Amendment right. Call 888-535-3686 or chat with us now.