Quote:
To .........,
I am writing to you today after hearing reports that the Indiana County Sheriffs' Office has instituted and enforced a requirement upon applicants for a license to carry a firearm that the applicant's references must be residents of Indiana County for three years and that the applicant must have known said references for three years prior to applying. If the Sheriffs' website is true in listing this as a requirement, and if the reports forwarded to me are correct that this requirement is enforced, then I must point out that it constitutes a severe violation of both the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act.
As your office should be well aware Pennsylvania is a "shall issue" State and 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109 provides no authority for a Sheriff to add additional requirements to the application aside from those set out in State statute. In fact both 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109 and 18 Pa.C.S. § 6120 prevent local authorities from adding additional regulations to the process of applying for a license to carry a firearm. Creating and enforcing a mandatory rule that an applicant's references must be county residents for three years and that the applicant must have known his/her references for three years is a clear breach of any Sheriffs' lawful authority.
The application process is designed, and mandated, to be uniform across the Commonwealth. Not a single Sheriffs' office aside from Indiana County has such an egregious requirement in place upon an applicant's references. It is worth noting that Title 37, Chapter 33, Section 33.114 of the Pennsylvania Code states in part, "It is the responsibility of the issuing authority to utilize the form", referring to the application for a Pennsylvania license to carry firearms, "as prescribed by the State Police, and ensure it is accurately completed in accordance with the block instructions contained therein." The block instructions on the application for a Pennsylvania license to carry firearms contains only one requirement upon references, that they are "not family members". There is absolutely no requirement, nor any authority for such a requirement, that references be residents of a specific area or have known the applicant for a specific period of time.
Indeed given that the reference requirement is only found on the application for a license to carry a firearm and not codified in Statute, and noting the express prohibitions under both 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109 and 18 Pa.C.S. § 6120 that prevent both State agencies and local officials from regulating firearms in Pennsylvania, it is highly questionable as to whether an applicant may be required to list any references at all. What is certain, however, is that there is no authority for the local issuing agent, in this case the Sheriff of Indiana County, to add any requirement beyond that listed on the State Police's application form.
In light of the simple facts outlined in Pennsylvania's statutes and codes I request that the Indiana County officials immediately remove the requirement upon applicants that their references be county residents (let alone for three years) and that the applicant know his/her references for a three year period before applying. It is the duty of local elected officials, particularly the Office of Sheriff, to follow State law and the Pennsylvania Constitution. The Sheriff's current requirements place his office outside of both the law and the Constitution and as such I urge him to remove those requirements immediately.
Sincerely,
I'll have to confirm some things, edit the above and work with others in FOAC to get a final draft done (probably with a lawyer's review), so say one to two weeks I'll have it. Will post final draft once it's set.