What is the penalty?

[tglassburner]

What is the penalty for carrying on "posted" property? Family wants to go somewhere that is posted. What would happen if I carried there and got caught?

[o1dakota440]

what do you mean by posted? warning/posted signs hold no legal wieght in pa. someone who has managerial power over the property must inform you in person not to carry on their property. after that you may be arrested. ianal
edit to add. I see you are not in Pa, so you should check with you states laws.

[tglassburner]

An amusement park that has a no weapons sign is what I mean by posted.

ETA: The amusement park is in PA not OH.

[IronSight]

what do you mean by posted? warning/posted signs hold no legal wieght in pa. someone who has managerial power over the property must inform you in person not to carry on their property. after that you may be arrested. ianal
edit to add. I see you are not in Pa, so you should check with you states laws.

The "signs hold no legal weight in PA" argument isn't backed by any case law I've ever seen.

From my reading of PA's statute on defiant trespass it could very well constitute trespassing, and you could be charged with it.

The solution, don't trespass & don't patronize businesses that disarm you and not the criminals.

I am not a lawyer.

Emphasis added:

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3503

(b) Defiant trespasser.--

(1) A person commits an offense if, knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place as to which notice against trespass is given by:
(i) actual communication to the actor;
(ii) posting in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders;
(iii) fencing or other enclosure manifestly designed to exclude intruders;
(iv) notices posted in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the person's attention at each entrance of school grounds that visitors are prohibited without authorization from a designated school, center or program official; or
(v) an actual communication to the actor to leave school grounds as communicated by a school, center or program official, employee or agent or a law enforcement officer.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (1)(v), an offense under this subsection constitutes a misdemeanor of the third degree if the offender defies an order to leave personally communicated to him by the owner of the premises or other authorized person. An offense under paragraph (1)(v) constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree. Otherwise it is a summary offense.

Actual communication is NOT a requirement under that subsection, so in my opinion the idea that signs hold no legal weight in PA is absurdly wrong.

[soberbyker]

from a very old thread about roughly the same thing ....

posted signs hold no legal weight in PA

Please stop saying this, it's not necessarily true, no matter how many times it's repeated.

If you carry a gun into a place that is posted against guns, you could arguably be prosecuted under the trespassing statute, for doing something on the property that you have been placed on notice you are without license to do.

Signs have legal weight. The signs in the parking garage that say "not responsible for lost items" have legal weight. Signs are not a legal nullity, and in the absence of case law interpreting the trespassing statute to clearly negate the "no guns" signs, we do a disservice to people by giving them the false sense of confidence that they are free to ignore these signs.

It's true that other states have specific statutes giving weight to these specific signs, and PA does not have such a law. However, that's not the same as saying that there's no operative difference between having a sign and not having a sign. You can't be prosecuted in PA under the "disobeying a no weapons sign" statute because there is none, but we do have a "trespassing" statute. A sign puts you on notice as to the terms of the permission granted to you to use the private property of another. If you go outside those terms of use, you are trespassing.

This is a legal matter, it's a legal conclusion, and you need to have a firm legal basis before telling anyone that it's safe to say "screw you" to a property owner and make him tell you face-to-face what his sign already advised you.

[mpan72]

I agree with the signs should not be ignored camp.
To op you have admitted in this thread that you know the place in question does not allow guns. I know the chances of it being connected to you, if you get caught and face charges, are slim but there is still a chance.

[tglassburner]

To op you have admitted in this thread that you know the place in question does not allow guns. I know the chances of it being connected to you, if you get caught and face charges, are slim but there is still a chance.

I am just curious how the law works in PA. I will leave my Glock in the car.

[GunLawyer001]

It's all about balancing perceived and actual risks.

Odds are, you could go to the place 1,000 times and never have to use a gun.

Odds are, you could carry a gun every time, without being discovered AND prosecuted for trespass.

There's a small chance that you'd need a gun. And a small chance that having it and being discovered while reaching for your wallet (a common occurrence at these places) would cause substantial problems.

I wouldn't OC in such a place, it massively raises the odds that you will at least be ejected. I might take a "business risk" and knowingly violate a policy by CC'ing, because that better suits my personal needs. But I'd be doing so knowing that I'm stepping on the private property rights of the owner, and that there's some actual risk of criminal prosecution.

But these are exactly the sorts of places that violent predators choose, places where the victims are helpfully disarmed by the premises manager, without any beefed-up security.

[o1dakota440]

ok, so disregard my first post. i was under the impression that you must be notified in person. i got that info from another thread on this site. and had an issue with the PSP on my own property that ended in me having to inform someone in person that they were not allowed on my property, even though i had posted signs every 6 feet on a fence that enclosed the entire property. so my bad, and thanks for the correction.

[tabasco_joe]

As a property owner who posts his land due to abuses prior to posting, why would you purposely trespass when the landowners intentions are obvious? Carrying in that situation is even more offensive. I presume someone carrying on my property out of hunting season is up to no good and I will sic the law on them.

Why not just seek out the land owner and ask for permission? This type of activity is why people post their land and then aggressively enforce.

I have never denied anyone asking permission to cross my land with the exception of opening day of deer season. Even then I allowed them on a section away from where my family hunts.

As good citizen gun owners we should discourage unauthorized entry to posted land.