Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 49, December 7, 2024
Section 33.103 - Confidentiality(a) Information furnished under this chapter by an applicant, purchaser, transferee or licensee, or collected by the designated issuing authority under this chapter, is confidential and not subject to public disclosure.(b) Information collected or maintained under this chapter by the State Police is confidential and not subject to public disclosure.(c) Nonpublic disclosure by the State Police of information collected, furnished or maintained under this chapter is restricted to: (1) Disclosure upon request of the applicant, licensee, purchaser or transferee, as described in sections 6109 and 6111 of the act (relating to licenses; and sale or transfer of firearms), upon documentary certification that the requestor is in fact the applicant, licensee, purchaser or transferee.(2) Disclosure upon request of a county sheriff or a criminal justice agency, defined as any court, including the minor judiciary, with criminal jurisdiction or any other governmental agency, or subunit thereof, created by statute or by the State or Federal constitution, specifically authorized to perform as its principal function the administration of criminal justice, and which allocates a substantial portion of its annual budget to this function. Criminal justice agencies include: organized State and municipal police departments, local detention facilities, county, regional and State correctional facilities, probation agencies, district or prosecuting attorneys, parole boards, pardon boards and agencies or subunits thereof, as are declared by the Attorney General to be criminal justice agencies as determined by a review of applicable statutes and the State or Federal Constitution, or both.(d) No disclosure of information forwarded, collected or maintained under this chapter will be made to requests of noncriminal justice agencies, or individuals other than the applicant, licensee, purchaser or transferee as described in sections 6109 and 6111 of the act.(e) Mental health records information received or maintained by the State Police under section 6111.1(b) and (f) of the act (relating to Pennsylvania State Police) and section 109(d) of the Mental Health Procedures Act (50 P.S. § 7109(d)) are confidential and not subject to disclosure, except for all of the following: (1) The information will be available to the State Police for the purposes of determining, under sections 6109(d) and 6111.1(b) of the act, if the potential applicant is prohibited from possessing, using, controlling, selling, transferring or manufacturing a firearm, or obtaining a license to possess, use, control, sell, transfer or manufacture a firearm in this Commonwealth, as defined under Federal or State law, and for the purpose of informing the licensee/sheriff making inquiry under sections 6109(d) and 6111.1(b)(iii) of the act.(2) The State Police may disclose the information in accordance with section 111(b) of the Mental Health Procedures Act (50 P.S. § 7111(b)).The provisions of this § 33.103 adopted February 23, 2001, effective 2/24/2001, 31 Pa.B. 1145; amended August 24, 2018, effective 8/25/2018, 48 Pa.B. 5358.The provisions of this section amended under section 111(b) of the Mental Health Procedures Act (50 P.S. § 7111(b)).