A lot of folks have been making noise lately about whether PA has gun registration or not, and some confusion exists. D-Fens, notably, has been very helpful in raising the issue for everyone, but folks seem to continue to have questions.

So, with a nod (and much citation to the 2004 Pa. Supreme Court decision), here is the state of the law in Pa.:

Section 6111.4 of the UFA prohibits government or law enforcement agencies from creating, maintaining and operating a "registry of firearm ownership."

but:

"Under the Firearms Act, every person purchasing a handgun in Pennsylvania from a licensed dealer is required to provide the dealer with identifying information including the purchaser's name, gender, race, social security number, address and date of birth. This information is recorded on a one-page form knows as an "application/record of sale." See 18 Pa.C.S. § 6111(b)(1). The application/record of sale is filled out in triplicate: the original copy is forwarded to the Pennsylvania State Police within 14 days of the sale; one copy is retained by the licensed importer, manufacturer or dealer for a period of 20 years; and the final copy is provided to the purchaser. See id. The Pennsylvania State Police incorporate the information in the application/record of sale into a database of persons who lawfully purchase handguns in Pennsylvania. This database has been maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police since 1943."

Allegheny County Sportsmen's League v. Rendell, 580 Pa. 149, 152 (Pa. 2004) (emphasis added).

So, just to clear things up, Pennsylvania has, for the past 60+ years, maintained a database of handgun sales in the Commonwealth.

By way of background, the ACSL brought suit, alleging that the database constituted an illegal registry (per Section 6111.4).

Looks like a registry, smells like a registry, must be a registry, right?

No, said the court. It's not -- it's merely a database of sales. The court concluded that if it were a registry, all persons bringing firearms into the state would be required to submit registration data. The court continued, holding that, in any case, the database wasn't prohibited under 6111.4 because it wasn't regarding all firearms, just handguns.

Rather tortured logic, but we end up with the situation that:

Firearms registries are illegal in Pa.
The state police may retain records of firearms sales.
Records of sales don't constitute a registry.

Amazing, huh?

And despite what the PSP represents when you call them, they can run the serial number of a firearm in a matter of seconds. If an officer during a traffic stop wants to run your gun's serial, he can, and he can find out who the last purchaser was (if the purchase took place in Pa.) in seconds.