Pennsylvania laws by category

In Pennsylvania, anyone 18 or older may buy, possess and use consumer fireworks (3 Pa.C.S. 1104(a)), sold only at stand-alone, permanent stores licensed by the Department of Agriculture (1107). Exceptions may apply — read the full rule.

A License to Carry Firearms (LTCF) is required to carry a firearm concealed or in a vehicle outside your home or fixed place of business. Exceptions may apply — read the full rule.

Pennsylvania is a control state and one of the most restrictive: wine and spirits are sold at the state-run Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores (PLCB), while beer and other malt beverages are sold by licensed beer distributors and retailers, including many grocery and convenience stores and delis with an R license.

Radar detectors are legal in passenger vehicles — Pennsylvania has no state ban on them.

In Pennsylvania, you need a freshwater fishing license from age 16. Licenses are issued by the PA Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC).

State sales and use tax is 6%. By law, an additional 1% local tax applies to purchases in Allegheny County and 2% in Philadelphia; Pennsylvania has no other general local sales tax.

Pennsylvania allows medical cannabis only (Medical Marijuana Act, 2016), and recreational use is illegal. A House legalization bill passed in 2025 but failed in the Senate.

In Pennsylvania, all hunters during firearms deer, bear and elk seasons, regardless of the arm carried (so archers in those seasons too), must wear 250 sq in of fluorescent orange on the head, chest and back combined. Exceptions may apply — read the full rule.

Pennsylvania sports betting is legal, retail and online/mobile, and you must be 21+. Authorized by the 2017 Expanded Gaming Act; regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Pennsylvania requires a Boating Safety Education Certificate, carried while operating, for every PWC operator regardless of age and for anyone born on or after January 1, 1982 operating a boat with a motor over 25 hp. Out-of-state boaters need a NASBLA-approved certificate. No one 11 or younger may operate a PWC.

Pennsylvania's offensive-weapons law (18 Pa.C.S. 908) does not list automatic or switchblade knives, but it still makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to make, repair, sell, deal in, use or possess any "implement for the infliction of serious bodily injury which serves no common lawful purpose."

Pennsylvania (18 Pa.C.S. 3505) makes it a summary offense to use a drone to surveil a person in a private place or place them in reasonable fear of injury.