How licenses to carry are issued
Pennsylvania licenses to carry are issued by the sheriff of the applicant's home county — in Philadelphia, by the police department's Gun Permit Unit. Applicants must be 21 or older; the license costs $19, is valid statewide for five years, and covers concealed carry and carry in a vehicle. The issuing authority must investigate and decide within 45 days, and a written denial must state its reason.
The statutory disqualifiers include convictions under the drug act, Section 6105 prohibitions, pending charges punishable by more than a year, involuntary commitments, and habitual intoxication — plus the broadest clause in the statute: an individual whose 'character and reputation' indicate a likelihood of acting dangerously. Character-clause denials, often built on stale arrests, dismissed cases, or 911-call histories, are the most commonly appealed — and the most commonly reversed, because courts require actual evidence of dangerousness, not just a thick file.
Revocation comes fast — and is appealable
Because a pending charge punishable by more than one year is itself a disqualifier, sheriffs typically revoke a license promptly after any felony or first-degree misdemeanor arrest — long before any conviction. The revocation notice must be in writing and state the specific reason, and the license must be surrendered within five days. Both denials and revocations are appealable to the Court of Common Pleas in the licensee's home county.
The interaction between a criminal case and a license is worth planning from day one: how a charge resolves — the grading, whether it ends in dismissal, ARD, or a non-disqualifying disposition — determines whether the license comes back. Defending the criminal case and preserving the license are the same project, handled together.
