Person not to possess a firearm

Section 6105 of the Crimes Code outlines who is prohibited from possessing a firearm, exactly what a “firearm” is, the defenses to this crime, and how the crime is graded under differing circumstances. (Generally it’s a felony offense.)

Section 6105 itself is lengthy, but what’s most important to understand is who it applies to. Under the law, these are some people who are prohibited from possessing a firearm:

• A person who is a fugitive from justice
• A person convicted of a drug offenses punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding two years, specifically under The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act and any equivalent federal or state law
• A person convicted of DUI “on three or more separate occasions within a five-year period.”
• A person adjudicated as incompetent or who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution for inpatient care
• An alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States
• A person subject to an active final PFA order
• A person adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for murder, voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, assault by prisoner, kidnapping, rape, IDSI, arson, burglary, robbery, theft by extortion
• A person convicted of one of the enumerated offenses under Section 6105(b)

It must be remembered that Section 6105 is a state crime. The federal counterpart to this crime is 18 U.S.C. § 922, and under federal law “any person who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” shall not “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition.”  This includes persons convicted of certain DUI offenses, but this is frequently forgotten.