Is it legal in Pennsylvania for a landlord to ban firearms in the lease agreement?

by **claudius** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:23 pm

I do not want opinions. I want you to provide proof of your answer or tell me in great detail where I may find the proof myself (for it can't ALL be on the internet, I do understand this).

The reason I ask is because I live in a house with a lease agreement that states:
21. FIREARMS
(a) It shall be a breach of the terms and conditions, and a forfeiture, of this lease agreement for TENANT, TENANT'S family, guest/s, invitee/s, servant/s, or visitor/s of any kind to fire any firearm/s in rental unit, building in which rental until is located, or on the property upon which the building is situated. LANDLORD shall end this lease agreement, by notice, in writing to TENANT. TENANT shall have no further right of possession to rental unit.

by **chason62** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:26 pm

A landlord can put any terms he or she wishes in a rental agreement. If you sign that agreement, it becomes binding. If you don't sign the agreement, you don't get the rental.

No firearms is actually quite a common lease proviso.

by **aviya** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:33 pm

All you'll get is opinions, because I don't know if there's case law on this in your state. An argument can be made that such a provision is repugnant to public policy. Then you have the matter of whether public policy trumps property rights, or vice-versa.

Anyone who gives you an iron-clad opinion on this without citing a nearly identical court case is just blowing smoke. Sorry. If it's going to be a problem, either ask the landlord to remove the language from the lease, or don't move there.

by **armin** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:36 pm

If it is in the lease and you agree then it is a binding contract. That means you agree to abide regardless of state law. Do not like the rules then you do not live there. Simple.

by **otis** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:40 pm

If it is in the lease and you agree then it is a binding contract. That means you agree to abide regardless of state law. Do not like the rules then you do not live there. Simple.

You might try writing to or calling the numbers below to ask this question to the authorities in Pennsylvania.

CITY OF HARRISBURG
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Bureau of Codes Enforcement
4th Floor, Room 406
Martin Luther King Jr., City Government Center
Harrisburg. PA 17101

Housing inspection & report housing code violations 255-6552
Rodent (mice or rats) problem 558-1093

.

by **khalid** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:44 pm

http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Penn/harris/pa-toc.html

These are your basic statutory lease laws.

what you need to understand is that there is no law stating that it is illegal to ban firearms. Therefore, as long as your landlord does not violate statutory law, then he can say only blue cars are allowed in be the driveway, because there is no law against him doing that.

So you are not going to find a law, (maybe a case law, but most people don't have access to those records), that states its legal to ban.

The Second Amendment and Open carry laws have no bearing. The landlord is not saying you can't keep firearms on your person or in your own car, he is saying that you cannot keep them in the dwelling that he is the rightful owner of.

And you can't tell people not to state opinion. All law is opinion. It's all on how it is analyzed and argued.

I want to add the two people above me said a landlord can put anything he wants into a rental contract regardless of state law. This is very far from the truth. If a landlord goes angainst a statutory landlord/tenant law, then that can make the contract void and he may also be held for damages for violating the law.

by **achban** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:55 pm

The second amendment says you can own a gun. It does NOT say that a private person must allow that gun on his property. Most companies, for instance, ban weapons on the property, and that too is totally legal.

Your rights to carry do not supercede his right to prohibit guns on his property.

In actual fact, however, the lease only prohibits FIRING weapons.

by **barend31** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:12 pm

You want proof of the absence of law? Don't be an idiot. The landlord is not banning firearms. The landlord offeredyou a contract, that you can accept or reject. If you accept if, then you are agreeding to have no guns in the apartment. If you are asking if some law prohibits you from agreeing to have no firearms, there is no such law.

by **alleyne** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:20 pm

"...of any kind to fire any firearm/s in rental unit, building..."

It does not state in this paragraph that you may not own a weapon nor does it prohibit storage of same in a rental unit - merely the firing of a gun.

2A does not apply.

Advertisments:

Sponsor Links: