With certain exceptions, Pennsylvania law prohibits:

• Any person from selling, lending, giving, or otherwise transferring any air rifle to any person under age 18, except where the relationship of parent and child, guardian and ward or adult instructor and pupil exists between such person and the person under age 18.¹
• Any dealer from selling, lending, renting, giving, or otherwise transferring an air rifle to any person under age 18, where the dealer knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, the person to be under age 18, or where such dealer has failed to make reasonable inquiry relative to the age of such person, and such person is under age 18.²
• Any person under age 18 from carrying any air rifle on the highways or public lands unless accompanied by an adult, except that a person under age 18 may carry such rifle unloaded in a suitable case or securely wrapped.³
• Any person from discharging any air rifle from or across any highway or public land or any public place, except on a properly constructed target range.⁴

These provisions do not affect the validity of any ordinance enacted by any political subdivision which imposes greater restrictions or limitations in respect to the sale and purchase, use or possession of air rifles.⁵

“Air rifle” is defined as “[a]ny air gun, air pistol, spring gun, spring pistol, B-B gun, or any implement that is not a firearm, which impels a pellet of any kind with a force that can reasonably be expected to cause bodily harm. The term does not include a paintball gun or paintball marker.”⁶

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1. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 6304(a)(2).[↩]
2. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 6304(a)(1).[↩]
3. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 6304(b)(1).[↩]
4. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 6304(b)(2).[↩]
5. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 6304(e).[↩]
6. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 6304(g).[↩]