Concealed carry, wife carrys gun registered to me.

[Odonnks]

Is it a issue for a spouse to carry a handgun registered in my name and visa versa ?

Never thought much about it much till recently.

Thank you for any responses.

[Got Ammo?]

Is it a issue for a spouse to carry a handgun registered in my name and visa versa ?

Never thought much about it much till recently.

Thank you for any responses.

If you're in Pennsylvania, it isn't registered to anyone.

[Remington788]

Is it a issue for a spouse to carry a handgun registered in my name and visa versa ?

Never thought much about it much till recently.

Thank you for any responses.

There is no "registration" per se in Pennsylvania.
I assume that you mean the gun was purchased by you and therefore associated with your name in the not-so-secret, but not-so-legal database of sales information kept by the PA State Police.

Carrying someone else's firearm can be problematic if the police try to match the carriers name to the serial number records in this incomplete database. Sure, there are circumstances under which you can lend a gun to another person, but that can get sticky.

Spouses however, can transfer firearms between them without a formal FFL transfer. Assuming you have the same last name and address, should be no problem. Regardless, I would scan the receipt from buying the bun and store it on your phone and hers.

Plus, isn't PA a community property state? As my wife says, "what's mine is mine and what's yours is ours".

[kx90]

Unless they changed something recently, in PA you could give a handgun to your spouse, child or parent without going thru the FFL for the PICS check. Of course the only exception to that would be if you knew they were not legally able to own a firearm.

[soberbyker]

There is no "registration" per se in Pennsylvania.
I assume that you mean the gun was purchased by you and therefore associated with your name in the not-so-secret, but not-so-legal database of sales information kept by the PA State Police.

Carrying someone else's firearm can be problematic if the police try to match the carriers name to the serial number records in this incomplete database. Sure, there are circumstances under which you can lend a gun to another person, but that can get sticky.

Spouses however, can transfer firearms between them without a formal FFL transfer. Assuming you have the same last name and address, should be no problem. Regardless, I would scan the receipt from buying the bun and store it on your phone and hers.

Plus, isn't PA a community property state? As my wife says, "what's mine is mine and what's yours is ours".

No.

Pennsylvania is not a community property state. It's an equitable distribution state. Under the law, all property acquired during marriage, regardless of whose name it is in, is part of the marital estate and is subject to equitable distribution upon divorce. The court looks at several factors to determine a fair and equitable division of assets.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Pa_a_co...property_state

[Remington788]

No.



http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Pa_a_co...property_state

Ya learn something new every day.
Thanks for the info.

[Odonnks]

Thanks for all the great feedback !

[jpkotor]

18 Pa.C.S. § 6115: Loans on, or lending or giving firearms prohibited
(a) Offense defined.--No person shall make any loan secured by mortgage, deposit or pledge of a firearm, nor, except as provided in subsection (b), shall any person lend or give a firearm to another or otherwise deliver a firearm contrary to the provisions of this subchapter.
(b) Exception.--
(1) Subsection (a) shall not apply if any of the following apply:
(i) The person who receives the firearm is licensed to carry a firearm under section 6109 (relating to licenses).

So aside from the fact that she's your wife, my understanding is that LTCF can borrow guns from others. I assume your wife has an LTCF since she is concealed carrying. I didn't do in depth research but I didn't see anything about not being able to carry the gun that is borrowed.

Being your wife probably makes it only easier. I can see getting into trouble borrowing a gun from a friend without any documentation. By trouble I mean the gun confiscated wrongly and the hassle of getting it back, not necessarily charges. I imagine if they ran the sales database and saw the same last name and address the cops would have to be in a pretty bad mood to put your wife through any trouble.

I am not a lawyer.

[TaePo]

What the law says, and what the police do are two different things.

In the Dickson City Incident, I believe one person was carrying a firearm that his wife bought. The police refused to return it to him but to his wife, who happened to also be present. There is no law requiring this, in fact, it may be a violation of rights. If the wife were not present, would the police have confiscated it until she came to retrieve it, thus disarming a citizen without legal justification? What if it was not in the incomplete sales database? Would they, then, confiscate it? Under what laws, etc.? The courts have ruled that the sales database is not complete (outside state purchases or inherited firearms are not in the database etc.) and therefore is not a registration database and thus not illegal. But many police officers are using it as a registration database anyway. The ones that don't come back as positively belonging to the person are 'confiscated'. It is akin to having to positively prove you own everything in your home or they can assume it is not yours / stolen and take it from you.

I can't recall the outcome, however, or if it was even part of the court case. There is a thread on it somewhere here. Maybe someone with a better memory can spell out if it was part of the case. IIRC, they did not pursue that particular issue.

[PA-Joe]

We are assuming that you both have LTCF.