City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., alongside Mayor Cherelle Parker, speaks at a bill signing ceremony Monday, Sept. 8.
JACK TOMCZUK
Philadelphia gun dealers will soon need to post bright orange signs warning their customers of the potential for hefty prison sentences for straw purchasing, after Mayor Cherelle Parker signed legislation Monday.
A straw purchase occurs when someone buys a firearm to sell or give to another person. In most cases, the recipient is not able to legally purchase or possess the gun because they have a prior felony conviction or are underage.
The notices, which must be printed in 30.5-point font in English and Spanish, caution shoppers that such a transaction is “punishable with up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Stop! Think before it’s too late and you become a criminal.”
“What we’ve learned is that some people may not be aware of the law,” Parker said at an afternoon bill signing event. “No longer will you be able to walk into a gun shop in the city of Philadelphia and not say you didn’t know that this was illegal, because the City of Philadelphia told you that it was illegal.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker signs a bill mandating straw purchasing signage inside gun shops Monday, Sept. 8, at City Hall. JACK TOMCZUK
The regulation, which City Council unanimously approved in June, requires that the signs be displayed near the store’s entrance and cash register.
It goes into effect immediately, and the Philadelphia Police Department is providing the signage free of charge to the seven gun dealers operating within city limits, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
Any business caught in violation of the ordinance will be given a 30-day warning to correct the issue. If the sign still isn’t visible, the establishment could be fined $2,000 a day, according to the language of the law.
“We know that a large percentage of guns that come into the city are through straw purchases,” said Bethel, who did not provide specific data. “Any action that we can take to reduce those numbers is going to have an impact across the city of Philadelphia.”
The Philadelphia Police Department will distribute the signage to all gun stores in the city, officials said.JACK TOMCZUK
Adam Geer, the city’s public safety director, said 80% of straw purchases are made by women, and Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who authored the bill, said he and colleagues witnessed men guiding their partners as they bought guns at a show in Oaks.
Though previous legislative attempts to regulate firearms at the local level have faced legal challenges, City Solicitor Renee Garcia said she believes the new law is on “very solid ground.”
In July 2023, city attorneys alleged in a lawsuit that three local gun shops recklessly ignored clear signs of straw purchasing. One of those businesses – Frank’s Gun Shop & Shooting Range in Northeast Philadelphia – had its license revoked by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Garcia told Metro, while proceedings against the other two are ongoing.