Court house carry

[God's Country]

Ok opened the mail box.
Did I get the backordered mag that I've been waiting for?
NO! Jury Duty
Ok no big deal.
It's my understanding you cannot carry only in a court room, prosecutors office,
or judges chambers. But I bet dollars to doughnuts they have a metal detector
at the front door.

I’m going to call to find out, but
what's your take.

[ChamberedRound]

Originally Posted by God's Country

Ok opened the mail box.
Did I get the backordered mag that I've been waiting for?
NO! Jury Duty
Ok no big deal.
It's my understanding you cannot carry only in a court room, prosecutors office,
or judges chambers. But I bet dollars to doughnuts they have a metal detector
at the front door.

I’m going to call to find out, but
what's your take.

County courthouses in PA are required, as per the UFA, to provide locker storage for firearms. You're not allowed to carry IN the courthouse, but you are allowed to carry TO the courthouse and check your weapon at the door.

Make sure to call the courthouse beforehand to verify that they do provide storage, but again, they are supposed to as per the law.

[God's Country]

This will be interesting. Small town, maybe 1800 people.
Storage may be a peg on wall.
Will call to confirm.

[ChamberedRound]

Originally Posted by God's Country

This will be interesting. Small town, maybe 1800 people.
Storage may be a peg on wall.
Will call to confirm.

LOL, now that would be interesting.

[2020hindsight]

In philadelphia county you must also show your permit to carry before locking your weapon in a gun locker prior to entering the Courthouse.

[Statkowski]

This is what the law (18 Pa.C.S. 913) says on the subject:

(e) Facilities for checking firearms or other dangerous weapons. -- Each county shall make available at or within the building containing the court facility by July 1, 2002, lockers or similar facilities at no charge or cost for the temporary checking of firearms by persons carrying firearms under section 6106(b) or 6109 or for the checking of other dangerous weapons that are not otherwise prohibited by law. Any individual checking a firearm, dangerous weapon or an item deemed to be a dangerous weapon at a court facility must be issued a receipt. Notice of the location of the facility shall be posted as required under subsection (d).

Would a peg on a wall suffice? Possibly, since the law states "lockers or similar facilities," just as long as you get a receipt for the handgun.

Can Philadelphia require a person to show their LTCF prior to checking a handgun? Well, since an LTCF is required in order to carry a handgun either openly or concealed in Philadelphia, that sounds like a non-issue.

If the county court house, through some oversight, does not have storage facilities as required by law for the last five years, call the Sheriff's Office and ask them who's going to mind your firearm while you perform jury duty.

[RandomTask]

Originally Posted by 2020hindsight

In philadelphia county you must also show your permit to carry before locking your weapon in a gun locker prior to entering the Courthouse.

Here's something funny:

Back in '93 or '94, I was subpoenaed to testify as a witness in a trial in a Philly district court. This is when they had no metal detectors or anything.
I walked up to the court clerk, said that I was there to testify. I showed her the subpeona and stated,"I'm carrying a firearm. Do I need to check it with you?"
Her: "Do you have a CCW license?
Me: "Of course!"
Her: "So, you don't plan on shooting up the whole place do you?"
Me: "Uuhhhhh, I don't think so."
Her: "Well then, you're fine."

The weird thing is she never asked to see my license. Weirder yet is that there were people walking in off the street, free of custody, to be arrained of violent crimes, such as attempted murder. When I saw that happening, I was glad I was carrying inside the courtroom.

[KeithPA]

Originally Posted by Statkowski

This is what the law (18 Pa.C.S. 913) says on the subject:

Would a peg on a wall suffice? Possibly, since the law states "lockers or similar facilities," just as long as you get a receipt for the handgun.

Can Philadelphia require a person to show their LTCF prior to checking a handgun? Well, since an LTCF is required in order to carry a handgun either openly or concealed in Philadelphia, that sounds like a non-issue.

If the county court house, through some oversight, does not have storage facilities as required by law for the last five years, call the Sheriff's Office and ask them who's going to mind your firearm while you perform jury duty.

Somewhere on this board is a letter someone wrote to their DJ about their facility for storing a weapon. I assume their DJ is like ours, its just a little building not part of a courthouse. The DJ informed the writer that the firearm could be locked in her/his office if need be. Obviously this writers town is small and the courthouse most likely is very small as our DJs offices are around here. So a peg board probably would count lol.

http://www.pafoa.org/forum/pennsylva...al-courts.html

[2020hindsight]

Originally Posted by RandomTask

Here's something funny:

Back in '93 or '94, I was subpoenaed to testify as a witness in a trial in a Philly district court. This is when they had no metal detectors or anything.
I walked up to the court clerk, said that I was there to testify. I showed her the subpeona and stated,"I'm carrying a firearm. Do I need to check it with you?"
Her: "Do you have a CCW license?
Me: "Of course!"
Her: "So, you don't plan on shooting up the whole place do you?"
Me: "Uuhhhhh, I don't think so."
Her: "Well then, you're fine."

The weird thing is she never asked to see my license. Weirder yet is that there were people walking in off the street, free of custody, to be arrained of violent crimes, such as attempted murder. When I saw that happening, I was glad I was carrying inside the courtroom.

The new courthouse, which is known as the Criminal Justice Center, was opened in 1995 and does have weapon detectors and storage lockers for firearms, Philadelphia does have what are known as District Courts but they are usually located in Police Disricts and generally hold only Prelims and prelim. Arraignments,you were probably in the old Court House which was City Hall and which was always a nightmare waiting to happen,there were some incidents involving handguns one in which a Court officer/crier/bailiff was wounded and the defendant was also wounded,and the only security that the average person could rely on was whatever they had with them.

[Harvey_Birdman]

Most Courthouses check weapons at the door and place them in a storage area, just like most do with cellphones or cameras.

The specific procedure is likely to vary by County (as I don't think Perry County even has a metal detector at the Courthouse door) so you may want to call ahead to check.