Court Opinion

ID: 9646124
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 12:49:36.265278+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:34.480938
License: Public Domain

NIGRO, Justice,
dissenting opinion.
Appellant was found guilty of violating Sections 6106 (Firearms not to be carried without a license) and 6108 (Carrying firearms on public streets or public property in Philadelphia) of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act based upon the same single act of possessing an unlicensed revolver in his waistband in Philadelphia.1 He was sentenced to probation for concurrent terms of two years for each offense, a sentence the majority now upholds. Contrary to the majority, I believe that convictions under Section 6106 and Section 6108 merge for purposes of sentencing, and therefore I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the Superior Court properly affirmed Appellant’s judgment of sentence.
*653The majority concludes, and I agree, that in order for the Commonwealth to secure a felony conviction pursuant to Section 6106(a)(1), it must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the conditions in Section 6106(a)(2) have not been met. As noted above, Section 6106(a)(2) provides:
A person who is otherwise eligible to possess a valid license under this chapter but ... carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid or lawfully issued license and has not committed any other criminal violation commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.
18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a)(2) (emphasis added). Thus, in order to sustain Appellant’s felony conviction pursuant to Section 6106(a)(1), it must be shown that Appellant, at the time of his Section 6106 violation, either was not otherwise eligible to possess a valid license to carry firearms or committed “any other criminal violation.” See id. The majority concludes that Appellant’s felony conviction is sustainable because, according to the majority, Appellant’s simultaneous Section 6108 violation can properly be classified as an “other criminal violation” for purposes of Section 6106. In support of its conclusion, the majority finds that Sections 6106 and 6108 contain materially different elements in terms of concealment and geographic location of the conduct, a finding which renders merger analysis inapplicable. See Commonwealth v. Whelton, 319 Pa.Super. 42, 465 A.2d 1043, 1050 (1983) (construing Sections 6106 and 6108 as prescribing separate offenses not subject to merger).2 I disagree with this conclusion.
*654The central inquiry of a merger analysis is whether the crimes are greater and lesser-included offenses. To complete this inquiry, we first look at the elements of each offense. If all of the elements of the lesser offense are within the elements of the greater, and the greater offense includes at least one additional element, then the sentences merge. Commonwealth v. Anderson, 538 Pa. 574, 650 A.2d 20, 22 (1994).
Applying these principles here, I would find that Section 6106 and Section 6108 merge for sentencing purposes. As stated above, Section 6106(a) provides that “any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license ... commits a felony of the third degree,” subject to the exceptions provided in subsection (a)(2). 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a)(1). Section 6108 provides that “[n]o 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.” Id. § 6108. Thus, a conviction for a violation of Section 6106 is established when a defendant carries a concealed firearm on or about his person without a license in any public place. At the same time, a conviction for a violation of Section 6108 is established when a defendant commits the very same offense, as long as he does so while in Philadelphia (the only city of the first class in this Commonwealth). As a case in point, Appellant was found guilty of violating Section 6106 for carrying a concealed gun while unlicensed, and found guilty of violating Section 6108 simply because he was doing so in Philadelphia. While Sections 6106 and 6108 may address different circumstances in which a person can unlawfully possess a gun, the essence of each is the same — unlawful possession of a gun. As such, the only difference that I can ascertain between the two offenses is with regard to the location of the offense. •
Given that Section 6108 contains all of the elements of Section 6106, and that Section 6108 includes one additional element, I would conclude that the offenses merge for pur*655poses of sentencing. See Anderson, 650 A.2d at 22. Accordingly, I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that Appellant’s Section 6108 violation constitutes “any other criminal violation” for purposes of 6106(a)(2), thereby converting Appellant’s Section 6106 offense from a misdemeanor into a felony. See Maj. Op. at 23.3 I would reverse the decision of the Superior Court affirming Appellant’s judgment of sentence.

. Section 6106 provides in relevant part:
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any person who carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license under this chapter commits a felony of the third degree.
(2) A person who is otherwise eligible to possess a valid license under this chapter but carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license and has not committed any other cnminal violation commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.
18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a) (emphasis added). Section 6108 provides:
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).
18 Pa.C.S. § 6108 (emphasis added).

. Although the Commonwealth has often charged defendants with violations of both Sections 6106 and 6108, see, e.g., Commonwealth v. Smith, 518 Pa. 15, 540 A.2d 246, 251 (1988); Commonwealth v. Romero, 449 Pa.Super. 194, 673 A.2d 374, 376 n. 2 (1996), and occasionally defendants have been convicted of both offenses, see Commonwealth v. Queen, 536 Pa. 315, 639 A.2d 443, 444 (1994) (defendant convicted of both offenses and sentenced to six months imprisonment on each conviction), the Commonwealth has just as often decided to charge defendants only with violations of Section 6108. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Woods, 710 A.2d 626, 630 (Pa.Super. 1998); Commonwealth v. Perry, 1992 WL 1071435, *1 (Pa.Com.Pl.1992).

. Based on the majority's conclusions, it would seem that a violation of Section 6108 in Philadelphia simultaneously establishes Section 6106 felony gradation, thereby precluding defendants who commit a Section 6106 offense within Philadelphia from misdemeanor gradation, although such conduct would constitute a misdemeanor everywhere else in the state. Thus, as a practical matter, the majority creates a disparate rule whereby violations of Section 6106 constitute a misdemeanor of the first degree, unless the violation occurs in Philadelphia, in which case the offense becomes a felony in the third degree.