CCW While Teaching?

[M&P45c]

A friend of mine is a High School teacher for the School District of Philadelphia. The school has a reputation for violence and the neighborhood/commute is becoming increasingly dangerous.

He has a PA License To Carry Firearm and lives in Delaware County (suburban county bordering Philly, for those unfamiliar with local geography).

My friend is curious on the legality of carrying a concealed weapon inside the school with a LTCF.

Leaving it in the car would be out of the question as teacher's cars have a habit of being broken into.

I found this for him, but was wondering if anyone could translate:

18 Pa.C.S. § 912: Possession of weapon on school property
(a) Definition.--Notwithstanding the definition of "weapon" in section 907 (relating to possessing instruments of crime), "weapon" for purposes of this section shall include but not be limited to any knife, cutting instrument, cutting tool, nunchuck stick, firearm, shotgun, rifle and any other tool, instrument or implement capable of inflicting serious bodily injury.
(b) Offense defined.--A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if he possesses a weapon in the buildings of, on the grounds of, or in any conveyance providing transportation to or from any elementary or secondary publicly-funded educational institution, any elementary or secondary private school licensed by the Department of Education or any elementary or secondary parochial school.
(c) Defense.--It shall be a defense that the weapon is possessed and used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose.

Thanks

[Curmudgeon]

Food for thought... It is perfectly legal for my wife to carry, open or concealed, at work.

And she would be fired. It is against company rules.

Your friend needs to consider more than just the legality.

[M&P45c]

Food for thought... It is perfectly legal for my wife to carry, open or concealed, at work.

And she would be fired. It is against company rules.

Your friend needs to consider more than just the legality.

I guess his thought is he can always find a new job if he was just breaking school district policy.

However, going to jail AND being barred from teaching as a convicted felon is too much to risk.

[Curmudgeon]

I guess his thought is he can always find a new job if he was just breaking school district policy.

However, going to jail AND being barred from teaching as a convicted felon is too much to risk.

I'm not certain there are no guarantees against being charged, or jail. There was recently a case in PA where a firearm was on school property and the "other lawful purpose" was used. The defendant was acquitted.

FWIW - the defendant had his firearm locked in the car in the parking lot, not on his person, and the "other lawful purpose" was target practice and/or training at a range after class with another class member. I believe the class time was related to LEO training or something similar. Last (but certainly not least) the case I'm talking about was not in Philadelphia. Point is, the defendant was not carrying for self-defense, so I'm not sure how well it would apply to your (friend's) scenario.

At the end of the day, what's most important is that your friend knows the laws and understands all the risks. Should it become public knowledge or widely known that he was fired for carrying a concealed firearm to class for self-defense, he might find employment at another school to be rather difficult to obtain.

[American1776]

I sympathize with your friend. I teach college in an urban city in south NJ, and I have a PA LTCF. That means I cannot leave my sidearm in my car. I cannot have the firearm for the trip there or the trip back, since I cross the NJ border and park on a public university campus. It must stay at home. It's a tough thing to accept, but the other option for me (carrying into NJ, into a public university), is out of the question.

For your friend, where his LTCF is legal in Philly, I would be almost certain that even if the balloon went up and your friend had to use his sidearm in the school, the negative publicity of such an event would be monumental. Not only would the legal repercussions be unsavory, but all employment prospects thereafter (even if the use of force was justified) would be marred for life.

Alas, some will argue that it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. I really think this way of thinking misses the fact that it's much more likely that you will be caught carrying than you will need to really defend your life with it.

just my thoughts.

[gnbrotz]

However, going to jail AND being barred from teaching as a convicted felon is too much to risk.

Being convicted under 18 Pa.C.S. §912 is NOT a felony. It's an M1.

§912. Possession of Weapon on School Property.

(a) Definition.—Notwithstanding the definition of “weapon” in section 907 (relating to possessing instruments of crime), “weapon” for purposes of this section shall include but not be limited to any knife, cutting instrument, cutting tool, nun-chuck stick, firearm, shotgun, rifle and any other tool, instrument or implement capable of inflicting serious bodily injury.

(b) Offense defined.—A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if he possesses a weapon in the buildings of, on the grounds of, or in any conveyance providing transportation to or from any elementary or secondary publicly-funded educational institution, any elementary or secondary private school licensed by the Department of Education or any elementary or secondary parochial school.

(c) Defense—It shall be a defense that the weapon is possessed and used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose. (Added by L.1980, Act 167(1), eff. 12/15/80.)

[Big Kahuna 19547]

My god this is Philadelphia ! Seth Williams the District Attorney and Mayor Nutter Butter would try to put your friend in jail forever. Hell they may have the Philly PD drive out to Delco just to shoot his dog....

[EandGWZ]

Here's the problem....get caught with that gun on school property and you will more than likely have you LTCF revoked.

Being able to conceal carry is of monumental importance to me, not worth the risk.

[M&P45c]

Being convicted under 18 Pa.C.S. §912 is NOT a felony. It's an M1.

Thanks, I can't believe I over looked that.

And also thanks for the responses from everyone. The "other lawful purpose" clause seems fuzzy at best, so I'll advise him to leave the firearm at home.

Looks like he'll avoid "being judged by 12," now let's hope he can do the same for "carried by 6"

[rwb1500]

If it really is your "friend" that's the teacher, ok.

If you're the teacher delete your post.