Court Opinion

ID: 9763565
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:49:43.652639+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:46.291836
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge,
dissenting:
I agree with the majority that it is not a good law which permits employees to carry unlicensed firearms at their “fixed place[s] of business.” I disagree, however, that this is adequate reason to rewrite a criminal statute duly enacted by the legislature. Thus, my dissent.
Albert Carr was tried on various criminal charges in the Municipal Court of Philadelphia but was found guilty only of possessing an unlicensed firearm in violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 6106(a).1 After a fine and sentence of probation had been imposed, Carr filed a petition for certiorari in the Court of Common Pleas. His petition was denied. He then filed an appeal to this Court in which he contends, inter alia, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction.
“When appraising the sufficiency of evidence, we apply a two-step analysis. First, we must regard the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, accepting as true all evidence upon which the fact finder could properly have based its verdict. Next, we inquire whether that evidence, together with all reasonable inferences drawn from it, was sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Commonwealth v. Grabowski, 306 Pa.Super. 483, 486-487, 452 A.2d 827, 829 (1982). See: Commonwealth v. Diaz, 319 Pa.Super. 538, 539, 466 A.2d 674, 675 (1983); Commonwealth v. Carter, 304 Pa.Super. 142, 144, 450 A.2d 142, 143 (1982); Commonwealth v. Allen, 287 Pa.Super. 88, 94, 429 A.2d 1113, 1115 (1981). In making a determination *468of the sufficiency of the evidence, we consider all the evidence received, whether or not the trial court’s evidentiary rulings thereon were correct. Commonwealth v. Waldman, 484 Pa. 217, 222-223, 398 A.2d 1022, 1025 (1979); Commonwealth v. Gray, 322 Pa.Super. 37, 40, 469 A.2d 169, 170 (1983); Commonwealth v. Fields, 317 Pa.Super. 387, 395, 464 A.2d 375, 379 (1983); Commonwealth v. Robinson, 316 Pa.Super. 152, 155, 462 A.2d 840, 841 (1983).
On April 22, 1981, members of the Philadelphia Police Department obtained and executed a search warrant for controlled substances believed to be stored in and sold from a service station at 2000 North Broad Street in the City of Philadelphia. Although the owner was then known only by description, he was subsequently identified as Mr. Cummings. When police arrived they found a group of approximately eight males standing in front of the bay area. As these men were being led into the service station building so that the search could be conducted without interference, Carr was observed dropping a loaded, .32 caliber revolver into a cardboard box. He conceded at trial that he had been carrying the revolver when the police arrived. He testified, however, that the service station was his place of employment and that he had been working at the time of his arrest. Although the trial court was free to disbelieve appellant’s testimony, the fact is that the Commonwealth’s evidence also established that the service station was Carr’s place of employment. Officer Agapito Osano, while testifying as a Commonwealth witness, said: “During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Mr. Carr worked for Mr. Cummings.”
Possession of a firearm without a license is made an offense by 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a), which provides as follows: *469The key to the decision in this case is the exception which permits a person to carry an unlicensed firearm in his or her “fixed place of business.”
*468“No person shall carry a firearm in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a license thereof as provided in this subchapter.” (emphasis added).
*469We are admonished when interpreting the Crimes Code, to construe the provisions thereof “according to the fair import of their terms but when the language is susceptible of differing constructions it shall be interpreted to further the general purposes stated in this title and the special purposes of the particular provision involved.” 18 Pa.C.S. § 105. The general purposes of the Crimes Code are stated at 18 Pa.C.S. § 104 and include, as relevant to the issue now before the Court, the following:
(4) To give warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense____
The legislature, when it incorporated the provisions of Section 6106 of the Uniform Firearms Act into the Crimes Code provided us with no statement of purpose therefor. It would appear from the language used, however, that the legislature intended generally to prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms outside one’s place of abode or fixed place of business without a license to do so. Possession of a firearm in one’s living quarters or fixed place of business was deemed to present no threat of substantial harm to individual or public interest and, therefore, was determined not to be criminal. The term “place of abode,” it seems clear, was intended to include living quarters whether owned or leased and irrespective of the size or number of rooms. What, then, is meant by “fixed place of business”? May a person legally possess an unlicensed firearm in his or her fixed place of business only if he or she has a proprietary interest?
The term “business” is defined by the American College Dictionary as “one’s occupation, profession or trade.” A literal interpretation of “place of business,” therefore, is that space which is set aside or used for the purpose of one’s occupation, profession or trade. Can it be said, nevertheless, that the legislature, in enacting the “fixed place of business” exception, intended to add by necessary implica*470tion a requirement that one have a proprietary interest in the fixed place of business? I think not.
In the first place, Section 105 requires that the term “place of business” be construed according to its “fair import.” This, as we have seen, is the place where one engages in his “occupation, profession or trade.” Section 105 of the Crimes Code also directs that the provisions of the Code be construed consistently with a legislative intent “to give fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense.” 18 Pa.C.S. § 104(4). In order to accommodate this direction, any ambiguity concerning the ambit of a penal provision must be construed in favor of the accused. Commonwealth v. Driscoll, 485 Pa. 99, 107, 401 A.2d 312, 316 (1979) (plurality opinion); Commonwealth v. Danish, 256 Pa.Super. 344, 348, 389 A.2d 1156, 1158 (1978); Commonwealth v. Cluck, 252 Pa.Super. 228, 238, 381 A.2d 472, 477 (1977); Commonwealth v. Cunningham, 248 Pa. Super. 219, 222, 375 A.2d 66, 67 (1977). See also: Busic v. United States, 446 U.S. 398, 406, 100 S.Ct. 1747, 1753, 64 L.Ed.2d 381, 389 (1980); Commonwealth v. Allsup, 481 Pa. 313, 317, 392 A.2d 1309, 1311 (1978). This is necessary to avoid the injustice of convicting a person without clear notice to him that contemplated conduct is unlawful. Commonwealth v. Broughton, 257 Pa.Super. 369, 377, 390 A.2d 1282, 1286 (1978). See also: Commonwealth v. Bellis, 324 Pa.Super. 506, 472 A.2d 194 (1984). It also serves to prevent courts from creating offenses which the legislature did not intend to create. Commonwealth v. Cluck, supra.
When the provisions of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a) are construed strictly and all ambiguity is resolved in favor of appellant, it must necessarily follow that appellant’s possession of an unlicensed firearm at the service station where he was then engaged in his occupation was not a criminal act. It was not within the ambit of the proscription defined by Section 6106(a) of the Crimes Code. The statutory exception is not limited only to situations in which a person owns the premises or has a proprietary interest in the business there conducted.
*471The majority argues that a literal interpretation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a) would be inconsistent with 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(b). It is argued that the later subsection would become surplusage unless we added the requirement of a proprietary interest to the “fixed place of business” exception of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a). Closer examination, however, discloses that the “fixed place of business” exception of § 6106(a) and the provisions of § 6106(b)(6) complement each other and can readily be construed to give effect to both. The “fixed place of business” means exactly what it says: it is not criminal to carry an unlicensed firearm on one’s person at his or her fixed place of business. The provisions of § 6106(b)(6), on the other hand, except from the statutory proscription those employees of common carriers, banks and businesses whose duties require them to protect moneys, valuables and property in the discharge of their duties. This exception is not limited to carrying a firearm at one’s fixed place of business; instead, it encompasses the carrying of a firearm wherever the employee’s duties may require him to go, without geographical limitation.2
The majority, in my judgment, places an unwarranted connotation on the word “his” in order to add an “ownership or control” requirement to the statute’s “fixed place of business” exception. The word “his” is a pronoun; in Section 6106(a), the pronoun is used as an alternative reference to the noun, “person.” In short, it refers to a person who would carry a firearm, hence an accused. The statute provides that such a person may carry a firearm on “his person” in “his ... fixed place of business.” This does not translate into a right to carry a firearm in one’s fixed place of business only if one has “ownership or control” over the business. In order to add such a qualification to the statute’s “fixed place of business” exception, the majority has engaged in pure judicial legislation.
*472The limitation adopted by the majority implies that an employee can have no “fixed place of business.” If this is correct, then the exception is inapplicable to corporate officers and employees unless they also happen to have a proprietary interest in the business. One may also ask under the majority’s interpretation, how shall we apply the “fixed place of business” exception to professional offices? Does it apply only to the partners of a law firm or medical clinic, or does it apply also to associates, secretaries and nurses who work late? How shall we apply the exception, if at all, to government offices and warehouses? More pertinently, does the exception allow the carrying of an unlicensed firearm by the faithful service station employee who works alone at night in relief of the owner? What reasonable difference allows the sole proprietor to carry an unlicensed firearm while at work during the day but does not permit the same protection to an employee who relieves the owner at night.
The majority observes quite properly that the courts of sister jurisdictions are divided in their interpretations of the fixed place of business exception contained in the Uniform Firearms Act. See: Annotation of Cases at 57 A.L.R.3d 938. I find it irrelevant that some courts have determined to add thereto a requirement that a person have a proprietary interest. Such a requirement, quite clearly, does not appear in the Pennsylvania statute; and this Court is importuned to construe the statute according to the fair import of its terms.
If we are to interpret the “fixed place of business” exception according to its fair import and consistently with the Code’s stated purpose of giving fair warning of conduct which is declared criminal, we would do well to interpret the statutory language literally. Only in this manner can we render the statutory proscription unambiguous. Only in this manner can we be certain that we are not judicially condemning as criminal an act not so intended by the legislature.
*473The legislature has said that it is not criminal for a person to carry a firearm on his person in his living quarters or in the fixed place where he engages in his “occupation, profession or trade.” Because appellant carried an unlicensed firearm only at the service station which constituted his “fixed place of business,” I would hold that he did not violate the proscription contained in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a). I would leave it to the legislature to rewrite a law which both the majority and I deem an unwise exception to the ban on carrying unlicensed firearms.

. The court sustained a demurrer to companion charges of criminal conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance, and carrying a firearm on a public street.

, This is a very broad exception. Whether there are any employees whose duties do not require them to protect the "money, valuables and property/’ of their employers and who they are have not been argued and need not now be decided.