Sort of open carry . . . ?

[Prof Young]

Another post made me wonder what happens in states where open carry and concealed carry are both legal and you "sort of" do both. Like suppose you have a full sized pistol on your hip and your shirt mostly covers it, but to anyone paying attention it's clearly there. Is that legal?


Life is good.
Prof Young

 

[Salmoneye]

I can only speak to Vermont, but your scenario as put forth is perfectly legal here...

 

[BarryLee]

Yes, this is "sort of" what I do and with a Weapons License it is perfectly legal in Georgia.

 

[johnwilliamson062]

Legal in Ohio and I carried this way for a while. Amazingly it seemed almost no one ever noticed.

 

[JohnKSa]

In TX open carry with a handgun license is legal if the gun is in a belt or shoulder holster. There's no rule against partially concealing while open carrying, in fact the law specifically states that the pistol may be "partially or wholly visible".

If the gun is not carried in a belt or shoulder holster then it must be concealed.

 

[buck460XVR]

The definition of "Open carry" in my state, is when any portion of the firearm, regardless of how small, is exposed. Years ago while deer hunting with a revolver, I was carrying my 6" 686 is a hip holster. At that time CWC was not legal. My blaze orange hunting vest was covering the top of the revolver when I was approached by a Warden. Even tho the whole holster was exposed and easily seen, the Warden informed me that I was carrying the gun concealed and thus illegal. He did not ticket me, nor really chastised me, just advised me to either make sure the vest did not cover the exposed part of the gun or to cut the tip of the holster so the muzzle of the gun was always exposed. Nowadys, with CWC being legal here and I having a permit to CWC, it wouldn't matter. Just as I would assume the scenario in the OP would not.......but, I would research the local laws to make sure there is not a stipulation similar to what JohnKSa posted.

 

[DaleA]

where open carry and concealed carry are both legal

Even tho the whole holster was exposed and easily seen, the Warden informed me that I was carrying the gun concealed and thus illegal.

What happened to buck460xvr is, IMhO, one of the best arguments for laws allowing open carry.

If you bend, twist or stretch and your concealed carry becomes visible for an instant I just don't think that should make you libel to be arrested or charged or ticketed.

I think allowing a concealed carry weapon to be visible without legal penalty would be a 'common sense' gun law.