PENNSYLVANIA FIREARMS LAW - One Day Sminar

[PeteG]

The 2015 session of "Pennsylvania Firearms Law" will be held at the Holiday Inn in Greentree (just South of the Fort Pitt Tunnels in Pittsburgh) on Saturday, January 31.

This is a day-long overview of the topics with respect to which people have the most questions. It is designed as an opportunity to get specific answers based upon case law and statutes, from individuals who have worked with these concepts in court and in the legislature (as opposed to the strongly held opinions of "darknight54" on the local gun board).

This is not the course devoted to the law governing the use of deadly force. There is a unit on that topic, and how it pertains to charges of assault, aggravated assault and harassment, but it is a survey of the topic rather than in-depth treatment.

This is not a course for experts. It is for those who are reasonably knowledgeable, but are unsure about some things and want to delve into the matter more deeply. (Of course, if you already know everything, you will gain nothing by attending.) The presenters will do their best to answer specific questions about situations real or hypothetical (assuming there are answers, which there sometimes are not!).

A more complete course description follows.

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ONE DAY COURSE ON
PENNSYLVANIA FIREARMS LAW
Saturday January 31, 2015 – 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Holiday Inn Express Pittsburgh W., 875 Greentree Road, Pgh. PA. 15220
(412) 922-7070

(Exit 68 off the Parkway West/I386 – Next to Parkway Center Mall)

This course is an overview of those aspects of the law that govern the acquisition, disposition, transportation, ownership and use of firearms. It is designed to give reliable, verifiable answers to questions people often have who handle and use firearms regularly for sport, personal protection, hunting or collecting. It will cover not only what current statutes say, but what they mean in practical application. The course is written and presented an attorney who represents firearms related businesses and individuals who are charge with gun-related offenses, and by a long-time gun rights activist who works in the legislative process in Pennsylvania. All of the information provided is tied directly to statutes and case law, rather than political statements or Internet Rumors.

The course is designed to be flexible, allowing the presenters to devote more time to particular topics in which the participants at any given session are interested. For example, if most people present are more interested in the law governing open and concealed carry as opposed to prohibited offensive weapons, more time will be devoted to one question and less to the other. The general information the presenters will cover includes:

SOURCES OF APPLICABLE FIREARMS LAW, AND HOW THEY MESH
• Constitutions, statutes and case law, and how they work to define your obligations.
• Federal and State Preemption, and what preemption actually does.
• Reliable sources of advice and information – sources you should trust, sources you shouldn’t and why.

WHO MAY POSSESS AND WHO MAY OWN FIREARMS
• Legal Disabilities Under Federal Law
 Conviction of crimes
 Other legal disabilities (insanity, alien, dishonorable discharge, etc.)
• Legal Disabilities Under Pennsylvania Law
 Minority
 Conviction of crimes
 Other disabilities (insanity, alien, dishonorable discharge, etc.)
• Rehabilitation and reinstatement after a loss of rights.

CARRYING FIREARMS AND TRANSPORTING THEM IN VEHICLES
• Open and Concealed Carry
• Transport in motor vehicles
• Special rules for carrying on public lands and in parks
• New rules for snowmobiles and ATV’s

THE USE OF DEADLY FORCE IN PENNSYLVANIA
• Self-defense and “Justification” Defenses
• Statutory codification of less-than-deadly force principles
o When force or threat of force can be used
o Value of training with non-deadly force alternatives
• Statutory codification of deadly force principles
o What constitutes deadly force
o When deadly force can be used
• Consequences of being wrong (civil and criminal exposure)
• Scenarios from actual Pennsylvania case law, to illustrate the true meaning of the rules

CIVIL LIABILITY FOR THE USE OF ONE’S FIREARM BY ANOTHER
• Loaning Firearms
• Civil and criminal liability for unauthorized access to your firearms by children, the mentally infirm, drunks, pranksters, criminals or those of intemperate disposition.

REGULATION OF FIREARMS-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND FACILITIES
• Zoning ● Noise abatement regulations ● Taxation ● “Paramilitary training” ● Releases of liability

Cost: $100 advance enrollment (the cheapest face-time you are likely to ever get with a lawyer!)
$120 at the door (space permitting).

Course format: The course will consist of six hours of straightforward explanations of how the law works, what the current rules are and how those rules are actually applied. Questions and audience participation are encouraged. There will be three hours of discussion in the morning and three hours in the afternoon, with a one-hour break for lunch, and 15 minute breaks in the morning and in the afternoon.

The course will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be substantial time for questions and answers. Electronic research facilities will be available, allowing us to look up an answer right on the spot if necessary.

Class size: The number of participants will be limited to 24 per session. This will assure ample time for individual questions and interaction between the faculty and participants.

Faculty:

PETER GEORGIADES. Peter has 37 years of experience as a litigator, and is currently is the Chairman of a law firm in Pittsburgh. He has been an instructor in law at the National Law Center, George Washington University and the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie-Mellon University. His practice includes advising clients with respect the law relating to firearms. He is also an experienced firearms instructor, certified to instruct by the NRA (rifle, pistol, shotgun and personal protection) and the State of Arizona (Certificate No. 8769268), and is a member of the International Ass'n. of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI). Peter is the current Executive Director of the Firearms Instruction, Research & Education (F.I.R.E.) Institute, a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization dedicated to the advancement of firearms training and education.

HARRY SCHNEIDER is the Legislative Chairman of the Pennsylvania Sportsmen's Association (PSA). He has worked for decades to advance the interests of firearms owners with the Pennsylvania legislature, and has helped write improvements to firearms laws in Pennsylvania, including changes in the law governing hunters and trappers and significant improvements to reciprocity between Pennsylvania and other states with respect to lawful carry. He has attended numerous ATF-PSP Firearms Law Seminars and seminars sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Federal Bar Association and the NRA. His formal firearms training and experience stretches back 40 years.


This course qualifies for six hours of continuing education credit for NRA law enforcement instructor accreditation. Paperwork to receive certification will be available at the course site.

TO ENROLL: Send a card or letter giving your name and contact information, and a check or money order for $100, payable to “Pennsylvania Firearms Development Corporation,” to “PFDC, 2130 Fox Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15203.” You will receive an enrollment confirmation letter by return mail. If we don't have your name and contact information, we cannot send you a confirmation or contact you in case there is a change of some sort.

Coffee and pastries are included.

Enrollment is first-come-first serve

[PeteG]

Enrollment for this course has been picking up as the date approaches. We are now a little over 2 weeks out. If you are interested, now is the time.

Please call the number on the course flyer (posted below) if you have any questions.

[PeteG]

Much hoopla recently about ATF pronouncements regarding the "pistol stabilizing brace," which is essentially a shoulder stock for hand guns. We will cover this in the course, although I hardly think it is important to 99% of us.

More important are things that happen to us all the time, and over which we have little control.

For example:

What happens if you pull a sidearm in response to a threatening dog, and its owner says you pointed the gun at her? What can you actually and reasonably expect the police response will be? Have you actually committed any crimes? What can be done to minimize the problem of the hysterical witness, short of simply letting the dog eat you? Have judges convicted gun owners of a crime simply because "there was a gun involved?"

That sort of thing.

[PeteG]

This Course is next Saturday, January 31. Written applications should be mailed no later than TUESDAY (January 27) or they will not be received in time.

We will be enrolling people at the door.