Evidently this guy's mistake was to not "have a permit for the gun". Must be that PA requires such a thing, or just in the city, or... ? Here in Florida, there would be zero problem. To keep a loaded firearm readily at hand in a vehicle requires no such instrument here in the sunshine state. With a shall-issue CCW, you can pack it right on you, in or out of the car.
That's the kind of freedom we need to get (re)installed in the rest of the U.S. For starters, anyway.