Open-Carry Ban in Philadelphia Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules
Plus, Gordon Ramsay invades a popular Delco restaurant on Fox tonight.
A woman open-carrying her gun on a West Philadelphia sidewalk, two days after the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the open-carry ban in Philadelphia is unconstitutional. (Photo by Victor Fiorillo)
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Open-Carry Ban In Philadelphia Unconstitutional, Court Rules
Depending on where you go in Pennsylvania, it’s downright common to see people open-carrying a gun in public. While you need a license to carry a concealed weapon — it’s very, very easy to get said license — you don’t need any kind of license or permit to open-carry a gun. You can just do it. You can just walk down the street with a gun on your hip or a rifle slung over your shoulder. In Philadelphia, though, the law bans open carrying within city limits, but a court just ruled that ban to be unconstitutional.
In 2022, police saw a handgun visibly protruding from West Philadelphia resident Riyaadh Sumpter’s waistband. They questioned him about it, and he said he was carrying it for self-defense due to the rampant gun violence in Philadelphia. Police arrested him, charging him with openly carrying a gun in a public space. Later that year, he accepted a deal, pleading guilty to the charge in exchange for 12 months of probation. But then Sumpter appealed, and the case wound up in front of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
On Monday, the court ruled in favor of Sumpter, citing the United States Constitution as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Constitution. Essentially, the court stated in its decision that the Philadelphia ban discriminates against people by virtue of those people being citizens of Philadelphia. “The right to keep and bear arms outside the home is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment,” wrote the court. “Open carry without a license is lawful for those 18 years of age and older elsewhere in the Commonwealth but criminal in Philadelphia. Thus, [the Philadelphia ban] places persons within the City of Philadelphia at a special disadvantage in the exercise of their Second Amendment right.”
The court vacated the sentence against Sumpter.
“This ruling is a historic affirmation of what we’ve said all along — gun rights don’t end at the Philadelphia city line,” said Dr. Val Finnell, Pennsylvania director for Gun Owners of America, in a statement. “The court rightly recognized that the state’s open-carry ban in Philadelphia violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by creating a two-tiered system where the fundamental right to bear arms depends on your zip code.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean that open carrying in Philadelphia is necessarily what you should do.
“We would like to point out that there is much debate among firearm owners about whether openly carrying firearms is really a good idea,” reads the website for the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association. “While we will leave that choice to the individual we will state that in many urban areas (namely Philadelphia) doing so will draw unwanted attention from law enforcement…”
The Only Thing Better Than a Wawa Hoagie Is…
Lots of things, really, but they are convenient. And they are also free. Well, they’re free if you get down to Arch Street (between 5th and 6th streets) on Thursday starting at noon. This is also probably a good time to mention that Wawa’s annual HoagieFest has begun, with all locations offering hoagies for $6 and under. I’m just bitter that the $1 coffee deal is over.
Speaking of Fast Food…
I’m not exactly sure why, but Roy Rogers just returned to the area after more than 30 years. Yes, they brought back the Fixin’s Bar, too. Somehow feels gross in 2025, but to each their own.
Meanwhile, In Delco…
Gordon Ramsay has a new show out called Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service. Restaurants involved with the show were pitched on the idea of being on a show called Restaurant Refresh. It was only after shooting that restaurants learned that the show was to feature Ramsay going into the kitchen in the middle of the night when the owner wasn’t around and using spy technology to expose the “filthiest restaurants in America.” In March, Ramsay paid a visit to Wilson’s Secret Sauce in Upper Darby, and the episode featuring Wilson’s airs on Fox tonight at 9 p.m., and will be available on Hulu starting on Thursday. I’ve been in Wilson’s plenty of times, including in the kitchen to pick up catering orders, and the place always seemed spotless. So I’ll be curious to see what Ramsay has to say about it.
By the Numbers
0: Chances that World Cafe Live will close, according to newish CEO Joe Callahan, aka the guy going after former employees through the Department of Justice and the Attorney General of Pennsylvania.
90 degrees: Temperature at which SEPTA initiates safety protocols that might slow down its trains, which is likely why your train was delayed yesterday. As for why your train was delayed all those days when the temperature was not in the 90s, not sure what to tell you.
$999,999: Discount that this guy just got on a historic local cemetery. It once listed for $1 million. He got it for a buck.
Local Talent
Enjoy sci-fi noir novels? Then I direct your attention to local author Jon McGoran‘s latest book, The Price of Everything. The gritty tale is a little John Wick, a little Johnny Mnemonic, and gives you plenty of reasons to worry about the future of the world, as if you don’t already have enough reasons to do so. He’s doing a book signing at Capricorn Books this Saturday.
