There are MULTIPLE problems with the verbiage in this Directive, and whoever wrote it is obviously completely CLUELESS as to the exact wording and legal meanings implied by the PA statutes regulating the carry, transport, and concealement of firearms...
Let's run this down, line by offending line:
A. SINCE A SEPARATE LICENSE IS REQUIRED IN PHILADELPHIA AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY OFFICER TO KNOW WHO DOES AND DOES NOT HAVE A VALID CONCEALED CARRY LICENSE, IT IS ENTIRELY REASONALBE FOR OFFICERS TO TEMPORARILY DETAIN AND INVESTIGATE ANY INDIVIDUAL CARRYING A FIREARM EXPOSED TO DETERMINE IF THE PERSON IS OPERATING WITH THE LAW.
This makes things difficult for any PA resident that possess a PA-issued License, because NOWHERE on the card does the word "concealed" appear. PA issues a "License to Carry Firearms". It does not stipulate wheter it is for open or concealed carry anywhere on the card. So I guess that means that the Philly PD believes that ANYONE in possession of a PA LTCF and is OCing is violating the Philly Carry Ban, because NONE of them have a "valid concealed carry license"...
C. A 75-48A MUST BE COMPLETED AND THE BASIS FOR THE STOP WOULD BE A “POSSIBLE VUFA VIOLATION”
If you are EVER stopped in Philly, and the LEO doesn't file a 75-48A, they are in violation of this directive, and should be reported for failing to perform their duty. Hopefully this will be a tactic used by more OCers being harassed. FOIA is your friend...
D. ONCE THE OFFICER RECEIVES CONFIRMATION THAT THE CONCEALED CARRY LICENSE IS VALID, AND THERE ARE NO OTHER OFFENSE OR VIOLATIONS BEING INVESTIGATED, OFFICERS SHOULD RETURN THE FIREARM AND AMMUNITION BACK TO THE INDIVIDUAL AT THE END OF THE STOP.
Nowhere in the PA Statute is it stated that you must have a "concealed carry license" to carry in a City of the First Class. The statute only says you must be "licensed to carry a firearm". The word "concealed" does not appear at all in the "Philly Statute"...
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.061.008.000..HTM
18 Pa.C.S. § 6108: Carrying firearms on public streets or public property in Philadelphia
No person shall carry a firearm, rifle or shotgun at any time upon the public streets or upon any public property in a city of the first class unless:
(1) such person is licensed to carry a firearm; or
(2) such person is exempt from licensing under section
6106 of this title (relating to firearms not to be carried without a license). E. HOWEVER, IF THE INDIVIDUAL CANNOT PRODUCE A
VALID CONCEALED CARRY LICENSE OR THE LICENSE IS NOT VALID (I.E. EXPIRED OR REVOKED), PROBABLE CAUSE THEN EXISTS TO ARREST THE INDIVIDUAL FOR THE VUFA VIOLATION AND TRANSPORT THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE DIVISIONAL DETECTIVES FOR PROCESSING. THE FIREARM AND AMMUNITION SHOULD BE PLACED ON A PROPERTY RECEIPT (75-3) AND MARKED AS “ EVIDENCE”. A 75-48A FOR THE INITIAL STOP MUST BE PREPARD ALONG WITH A 75-48 FOR THE VUFA ARREST.
So by the wording of this directive, EVERY resident of PA who holds a valid PA LTCF (or any citizen holding a license or permit from a reciprocal state which does not specify the permit is for "concealed carry") is to be arrested, and their weapon seized and properly entered as evidence.
In PA, they issue a "License to Carry Firearms" Nowhere on the card does the word "concealed" appear. Nowhere in PA statute does it specify that this card is ONLY for concealed carry--in fact quite the opposite is true. In PA, you need one of these cards to legally transport a firearm in your vehicle--openly or concealed. (18 PA CS §1606)
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.061.006.000..HTM
Therefore, since PA does not issue a card, ID, certificate, or other instrument that is labeled as or statutorily referred to as a "concealed carry license", then ANY PA resident with a PA LTCF would be in violation of the Philly Ban.
And ANY resident of a reciprocal state that issues an instrument called a "permit" (such as NC, where I live, or Utah) would ALSO be in violation of the Philly Ban, because a "Permit" and a "License" are two VERY different legal documents, and the terms are NOT interchangeable.
Between sloppy LE training, unconstitutional investigative procedure, legally illiterate Directive drafting, and a Public Relations machine for the PPD that is socially suicidal, inarticulate, ignorant of PA statutory wording and downright obfuscatory, I predict that Philly is in for a RAFT of the proverbial fecal matter when these cases start hitting the Court.
Hopefully this particular incident will be the FIRST in sudden rash of such Official Misconduct in the City of Brotherly Love, and the heavy-handed processes of PPD will soon reach such a fever pitch that the Fine People of Pennsylvania will DEMAND the Philly government and Police be reined in by the State Legislature and brought in-line with the rest of the state.
I hope that Mark Fiorino's attorney will, in addition to his case, file an additional complaint with the USDOJ that his client is the victim of an egregious 14th amendment violation, in light of the fact that NOT A SINGLE MEMBER of PAFOA's "Philly March" last week--most of whom were CLEARLY OCing--were stopped, detained, harassed, or otherwise molested--DESPITE the fact they were CLEARLY OCing, and none of them had their PA LTCF's displayed...
Philly PD must be training in Baltimore MD. The certainly have the same disregard for the Rule of Law, and they obviously have the same level of politeness and sense of Honor and Duty...