Court Opinion

ID: 9752345
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 18:00:07.427961+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:14.899824
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Hoffman, J.:
The sole issue in the instant case is whether an inoperable sawed-off shotgun is an offensive weapon under §908 of the Crimes Code.1
Section 908 of the Crimes Code provides: “(a) ... A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if, except as authorized by law, he makes repairs, sells or otherwise deals in, uses, or possesses any offensive weapon. . . .
“(c) ... As used in this section ‘offensive weapon’ means any bomb, grenade, machine gun, sawed-off shotgun, firearm specially made or specially adapted for concealment of silent discharge, any blackjack, sandbag, metal knuckles, dagger, knife, razor or cutting instru*114ment, the blade of which is exposed in an automatic way by switch, push-button, spring mechanism, or otherwise, or other implement for the infliction of serious bodily injury which serves no common lawful purpose.” (Emphasis added). The resolution of this issue turns on whether the language of §908, specifically, whether “any... other implement for the infliction of serious bodily injury which serves no common lawful purpose,” includes inoperable weapons.
In Commonwealth v. Layton, 452 Pa. 495, 307 A.2d 843 (1973), the Supreme Court held that Section (d) of the Uniform Firearms Act,2 required that a reasonable fact-finder must be able to infer that a pistol was operable3 in order to hold a defendant criminally liable. The Act stated that “ [n] o person who has been convicted in this Commonwealth or elsewhere of a crime of violence shall own a firearm, or even have one in his possession or under his control....” The Court looked to the “mischief to be remedied and the object to be attained” to determine the intent of the General Assembly: “Any object —a brick, a bat or a knife — can be a cause of violence. The Act, however, was obviously intended to cover only objects which could cause violence by firing a shot. An object, therefore, which is incapable of firing cannot be a cause of violence within the intention of Section (d) of the Act.” 452 Pa. at 498, 307 A.2d at 844.
Similarly, it appears that the “mischief to be remedied” by §908 was the harm caused by those in possession of offensive weapons. Section 908 points to specific instruments — .bombs, grenades, etc. — all of which share one characteristic, the capability of inflicting *115serious bodily injury.4 Thus, the relevant harm proscribed is the use of such weapons to cause serious bodily injury. Arguably, one can commit an assault or a robbery with an inoperable weapon with the same results as if the weapon were operable. The Court in Layton, however, was faced with the same problem: a person who had committed a previous crime of violence could commit a subsequent crime of violence with an inoperable weapon. Nonetheless, the Court concluded that “[a]n object... which is incapable of firing cannot be a cause of violence ....” 452 Pa. at 498, 307 A.2d at 844. Thus, I read §908 to mean (1) that the'weapon must be capable of causing serious bodily harm and (2) that the manner in which the weapon can cause the harm is that for which the weapon was designed.
In support of its reading of §908, the Majority contrasts §908 with §907: “The strength of this legislative prohibition is demonstrated by the fact that one can be convicted of violation of Section 908 for mere possession of the prohibited items even if there is no intent to employ such items criminally.... Under Section 907 it is unlawful for one to possess an instrument of crime or a firearm or other weapon concealed upon his person ‘with intent to employ it criminally.’ There is no such requirement under Section 908. This clearly indicates that the legislature intended to prohibit the items enumerated in Section 908 from being in free circulation in the community.” (Emphasis added). The Majority can so conclude only by ignoring §908 (b) : “It is a defense under this section for *116the defendant to prove by a preponderance of evidence that he possessed or dealt with the weapon solely as a curio or in a dramatic performance, or that he possessed it briefly in consequence of having found it or taken it from an aggressor, or under circumstances similarly negativing any intent or likelihood that the weapon would be used unlawfully,”5 (Emphasis added).
Under §907, a person must have an intent to employ a weapon criminally; under §908, that person must have an intent to use the weapon unlawfully — a frail basis on which to find a legal distinction.
Thus, I disagree with the Majority’s statement that “ [t] he mere possession of an item identifiable as a sawed-off shotgun, even though inoperable is still an ominous presence, and has no place or possible use in the community....” I believe that the statute is explicit: the offender must possess the weapon with an intent to use it unlawfully and that the weapon is one that can cause serious bodily injury. Mere possession of an inoperable sawed-off shotgun should not be sufficient to sustain a conviction.
Therefore, the judgment of sentence should be reversed.

. Act of Dec. 6, 1972, P.L. 1482, §1.

. Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. 872, §628 (d), as amended, 18 P.S. 4628 (d) (now 18 Pa. C.S. §6105).

. Here, as in Layton, the Commonwealth stipulated that the weapon was inoperable.

. The Majority states that “[t]he broad purpose behind Section 908 can be seen in the general class of weapons which it prohibits, i.e., offensive weapons.” My disagreement is that the class of weapons prohibited all can cause “serious bodily injury,” as specifically stated in the statute. The Majority relies on Black’s Law Dictionary to define “offensive” (“objectionable, disagreeable and obnoxious”) rather than the explicit language of the statute to define the general class of prohibited weapons.

. The issue is not raised, and therefore, we do not consider the constitutionality of requiring the defendant to prove that his intent was lawful. But see, Commonwealth v. Rose, 467 Pa. 380, 321 A.2d 880 (1974).