When you buy a handgun in this state you also have to fill out the PA. State Police firearms form.
What I don't understand is, why you have to list your employer and work address on this form.
I can't understand the relevance of this part to a handgun purchase. If you pass the instant check then you should be good to go. It seems like a little too much invasion of privacy to me, and we should write our legislators to get it removed.
Anyone got another opinion.

Because the State Police are maintaining a handgun registry database.

www.acslpa.org/register/registration.html

www.acslpa.org/

I see no problem with those questions unless you have something to hide

Quoted: I see no problem with those questions unless you have something to hide

Your occupation and job location have no need to be in this database. This is just
another way they up the ante in total gun registration.
Remember, you give these agencies an inch and they will keep trying to get more.

I also heard after 6 monthes they throw them out anyway

Quoted: I also heard after 6 monthes they throw them out anyway

Sure, after they've been microfilmed.  Trust me the state police keep excellent paperwork on all handgun purchses.  Check the links hapjack posted for a whole lot of info on this topic.  The Allegheny County Sportsman League has been fighting the state police about this for years.

Just because the state police claim its not a registration database and that the ACSLPA lawsuits have run into roadblocks because the courts have said it doesn't appear to be handgun registration doesn't mean that its not registration.  If all of that infomration you fill out on that form is saved isn't it pretty much a reference database?  Could one say that its also partially registration since the records can be pulled at anytime.  You just don't have to update your registration every year like your car.  This is the main reason that PA demands that all handgun purchases must go through a FFL where as long gun transfers between two individuals is OK.

I may have a chance to move to PA later this year. I posted such in your Hometown forum a month or two ago and asked about gun laws there. The responses were general, but more or less said anything goes.

No I read this post and I am concerned. I also read a post in GD about a bill introduced this past March (dead already?) that would institute an AWB and magazine restrictions for PA:

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=268999.

So can somebody give me the SPECIFIC lowdown on gun laws there? Handgun registration? Sate Police form? No face-to-face handgun purchases - only through FFL? Possibility of state AWB?

Some of what I am reading is really bumming me out.

First off we are surrounded on 3 sides by anti-gun states.  NY, NJ, MD, and in some cases DE are not as firearm friendly as PA.  OH and WV are more pro-gun on some things than PA.  

Negative gun laws that I can think of:

1. Canonot hunt with a semi auto except shotgun during deer and turkey seasaon,
2.  PA State Police pretty much keep a database of all handgun purchases in the state.  Because of this you are not permitted to sell a handgun face-to-face.  All handgun sales must go a FFL.
3.  AWB comes up every now and then.  Luckily most of PA does not think it is necessary.  Even the more liberal cities such Philadelphia and Pittsburgh cannot lobby to get the damn thing through.  Its died every time it shows up and I don't think its ever been voted on in either house.
4. In Philiadelphia it is harder to get a CCW permit and it must go through the Philly PD not the county Sheriff.

Good stuff:

1. CCW permit requires no training, costs 19.00, and are easy to get.
2. Open carry is legal
3. Guns z everywhere - most folks outside of the major cities own guns for hunting or another type of shooting sport/reason.  

I don't know.  Compared to states like NJ, NY, etc. PA is great.  There are a few unfortunates but for the most part the gun laws here are pretty lax and no one really says anything bad about having them.  You will get the occasional bolt gun/hunter who will give your AR or FAL a funny look but just let them shoot it; they will come to the dark side as well.  

Thanks for the info. Will I have to register the handguns I bring with me?

No registration when you move it.  That's how the State Police Database is able to stay.  When you move in its no big deal, but when you buy or sell any handgun it is logged by the SP.  It isn't like NY or NJ where you have to register them and have a card or permission from the .gov.  Its just the SP way of keeping track of handgun sales inside of the state.  

Thanks again for the info. The picture is becoming clear. Do you know any horror stories of the State Police using the database for unsavory purposes?

No, none that I know of.  I would imagine it has been used but just to get some info, not to prosecute someone.  

Maybe someone else knows more about it than I do.

PA is also Class III Friendly.  He forgot to add that.

There are about a dozen Class III Dealers that I know of in the State.  That's more than I can think of for any one else.