Pre-trip check · DE → PA
Driving from Delaware to Pennsylvania?
The law changes the moment you cross the line — what's legal to carry, light, or do in Delaware can be a violation in Pennsylvania. Every status below is live from LawLert's database, dated, and linked to its official source.
What changes for you (10)
Prohibited — driver or passenger may not possess an open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle on a highway; summary offense. (75 Pa.C.S. 3809.)
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
Pennsylvania bars hunting with the aid of aircraft or other devices prohibited by the Game and Wildlife Code (34 Pa.C.S. 2308), and expressly bans launching or operating drones on State Game Lands (58 Pa. Code 135.41);…
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jul 7, 2026
No proactive duty — but when carrying a firearm concealed on the person or in a vehicle, a licensee must produce the license for inspection UPON LAWFUL DEMAND of a law-enforcement officer (18 Pa.C.S. § 6122(a)); failure…
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jul 18, 2026
Medical-only (Medical Marijuana Act, 2016); recreational illegal. A House legalization bill passed in 2025 but failed in the Senate.
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jul 13, 2026
Open burning of debris is regulated locally; counties and the Governor can impose burn bans (county bans last up to 30 days, extendable). Propane/gas stoves, charcoal grills, and tobacco are exempt from county bans.…
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jun 18, 2026
57.6 cents/gallon state tax for 2026 (oil-company franchise tax + excise) — the highest state gas tax in the nation; excludes the 18.4c federal tax.
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified May 31, 2026
The longstanding Sunday hunting ban was repealed (Act 36 of 2025, signed July 9, 2025) - the Game Commission now sets Sunday opportunities, and Sundays approved within established seasons are open to any in-season game…
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jul 2, 2026
Limited: statewide work-zone speed cameras (75 Pa.C.S. 3369) and automated speed enforcement on specified Philadelphia corridors; not general statewide use.
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jun 18, 2026
Legal for anyone 18 or older — not only PA residents: consumer fireworks including aerials may be bought from a PA-licensed permanent structure and used (Act 74 of 2022). Never within 150 ft of a building or vehicle…
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jul 30, 2026
PA has no statewide blade-length limit or concealed-knife ban; only 'offensive weapons' under 18 Pa.C.S. 908 (which no longer includes ordinary or automatic knives) are prohibited.
Full Pennsylvania rule · Official source · verified Jul 7, 2026
Same status
Matching status ≠ identical law — details, limits and penalties can still differ.
Carrying with a permit? Whether Delaware permits are honored in Pennsylvania is its own map — check Pennsylvania concealed-carry reciprocity. And federal land (national parks, forests) plays by federal rules in both states — see the federal-land guide.
Also from Delaware: DE → MD · DE → NJ · reverse (PA → DE)
Delaware to Pennsylvania: common questions
- Do the laws change when you drive from Delaware to Pennsylvania?
- Yes — 10 of the 13 categories LawLert tracks have a different status in Pennsylvania than in Delaware: alcohol, drones, firearms, cannabis, burn bans, taxes, hunting, driving, fireworks, knives. Each is listed on this page with its current status, the official source it came from, and the date it was last verified.
- What are the alcohol laws in Pennsylvania if I'm coming from Delaware?
- Pennsylvania: Restricted — Prohibited — driver or passenger may not possess an open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle on a highway; summary offense. (75 Pa.C.S. 3809.) In Delaware the same category is Info.
- What are the drones laws in Pennsylvania if I'm coming from Delaware?
- Pennsylvania: Restricted — Pennsylvania bars hunting with the aid of aircraft or other devices prohibited by the Game and Wildlife Code (34 Pa.C.S. 2308), and expressly bans launching or operating drones on State Game Lands (58 Pa. Code 135.41);… In Delaware the same category is Conditional.
- What are the firearms laws in Pennsylvania if I'm coming from Delaware?
- Pennsylvania: Conditional — No proactive duty — but when carrying a firearm concealed on the person or in a vehicle, a licensee must produce the license for inspection UPON LAWFUL DEMAND of a law-enforcement officer (18 Pa.C.S. § 6122(a)); failure… In Delaware the same category is Info.
- Is my Delaware concealed carry permit honored in Pennsylvania?
- Permit reciprocity is decided separately from the firearms status shown on this page, so it is not answered here. LawLert publishes Pennsylvania's recognition list, with the statute or agency page behind it, at lawlertapp.com/firearms/PA/reciprocity. Permitless carry, where a state allows it, is a different question again — it does not make an out-of-state permit valid.
- How current is this Delaware to Pennsylvania comparison?
- Every rule on this page stores the date it was last checked against its source; the oldest on this comparison is 2026-05-31. LawLert carries 6,693 rules, each with a source URL, and publishes a log of every correction it has made at lawlertapp.com/how-we-verify. Laws change — confirm anything consequential against the linked source.