Would YOU Open Carry???

[the_pragmaticist]

Interesting delineation. In the winter, I have a leather coat on and IWB so you can generally call that fully concealed. In the summer, I have taken to not caring very much...Just a t-shirt which surely prints from time to time, and sometimes just uncovered if I'm wearing a single tucked shirt.

I've never had a real confrontation over it. While I carry to protect myself, I don't mind helping to normalize the image.

 

[kamerer]

The principle as to whether it's concealed or open is usually pretty straightforward - is it in plain view without an attempt to hide or shelter it? Sates differ, and some that allow open carry don't even specify what it means. This rule doesn't apply everywhere, but it's a good way to think about a situation. Let's just apply that simple concept:

If you carry a gun IWB where only the grip is showing, is that still open carry?

You've concsiously decided to use a holster that conceals the majority of the gun AND the holster from view. Hope you have a CC license, and you could get a stern talking or worse for not carrying it concealed. "Concealed means concealed" as some like to quote.

If you put on a jacket so the gun is still visible from the front but not the side & back, is it still open carry?

Not in plain view; you've concealed it. Have a license.

If you're wearing a jacket and the bottom of the holster is visible, is it still open carry?

You've concealed the majority of the gun - the bottom of the holster could be a cell phone or other holstered item. Have a license.

And how could you be arrested for concealed carry w/o a permit in an open carry state if someone spots the gun? If it's seen, doesn't that make it open carry?

Not if you've attempted to conceal it and failed to do so, as you've described. Without a license, that would be illegal concealed carry (in those 48 states that require a license for CC; not all do.) The judge and prosecutor isn't going to care if the gun was spotted - they are going to care if you had it in a belt on your waist in open view vs. some concealed or semi-concealed method of carrying it.

"Plain view" and "concealed" are not terribly confusing terms; just think in those terms. Remember, semi-concealed is not "in plain view." Nor is it really concealed. Choose one mode and use it.

 

[JesseL]

I'd say no. Shop owners around here keep shotguns and the like behind the counter, and if I was working the desk at a bank or store and a guy brandishing a gun strolled inside, I would be worried.

A visible, holstered sidearm doesn't generally meet the legal or common use definitions for 'brandishing'. Is a cell phone carried on your belt being brandished too?

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

and if I was working the desk at a bank ... and a guy brandishing a gun strolled inside, I would be worried.

and that would be illegal anyway, at least in NY. NO firearms allowed in a bank, concealed or otherwise.

 

[daveydoo]

Unless you are LEO

 

[Borch]

I work in corrections for the local sheriff's office and I have my CCW. My CCW class was taught by a department firearms instructor and one of the things that he talked about was open carry and I happen to agree with him on this. The general public has been forbidden or restricted in their carrying of firearms for over 100 years and as such the general public is not accustomed to seeing openly displayed firearms that are not on the duty belt of a uniformed LEO.

Many in the general public do not shoot or hunt and many are also scared of guns even in the hands of LEO's. We, as CCW holders and active carriers of weapons are in the vast minority in this country, and the numbers back this up, at least here in MN they do. Since MN became a CCW state 5 years ago somewhere around 10,000 permits have been issued, out of a population of over 2 million statewide. I live in a county of 150,000 people and only 1100 permits have been issued here. Open carry would, IMO, only invite trouble. I don't mean from people who want to make me a target, but from the non gun carrying, non shooting, non hunting, possibly fearful people in the community.

It happened to a buddy of mine last year, his sweatshirt came up over his gun when he bent down to pick up a 12 pack of soda at the gas station and by the time he had paid for the soda and exited the store there were 3 cops waiting, one with her weapon drawn. He was put through the full felony arrest procedure (get down on your kness, now lay down, put your hands behind your head etc.). He was searched, disarmed, handcuffed and put in the back seat of the squad car. His weapon was then unloaded and secured in the trunk of the squad car. He was then brought back out and questioned at length. By the time the whole incident was finished it had been almost 2 hours and he had nearly lost his job as his boss had driven by and seen what was going on.

Based on this I will never open carry and I am very sure my weapon is fully concealed, at all times when in public. I don't know about you guys but I don't want to be detained and questioned everytime someone gets nervous and calls the cops because they've seen my weapon that I legally carry.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

I open carry, but usually only in the wilderness.

That said, I have no problems with open carry and wish I saw it happen even more. I've seen it more often lately it seems.

 

[the_pragmaticist]

Regarding Borch's story:

Here in Ohio, the firearms community can and WILL run an entire police department through the wringer for harassing open carrying citizens who are doing nothing illegal at the time. I agree that a lot of education needs to take place, but it won't happen without a few incidents. At this point, it's still a bad idea to wander around on a busy sidewalk with a weapon sticking out of your waistband but the chances of getting police attention while pumping gas or shopping at the grocery store are minimal. Akron City Police actually circulated a memo reminding officers that open carry is legal.

 

[Wildalaska]

I saw a guy open carrying the other day in the supermarket, wearing a shirt that screamed in big letters....The Second Amendment blah blah blah.. most of the folks in the lines were guys and I caught several eye rolls and snickers....the guy behind me must have seen the butt of my SIG poking my sweatshirt out because he said "look at that jerkoff, whats he trying to prove"...I asked him what he was carrying and he said with a grin "442" and patted his front pocket.

Other folks have seen this guy around town and he is becoming a joke among gun owners I have talked to, which is virtually everybody

WildneedsgoodcoffeeAlaska ™

 

[The Great Mahoo]

I only consider open carry while away from town. I'm not a hunter, but when going fishing, hiking, camping, etc, I would open carry. Most of the time, it's just easier to keep it concealed and avoid any trouble.

Where I live, PA, open carry is legal, but seems more hassle than its worth. I think even my friends might think strange of it if they saw a gun on me. And then theres everyone I know through work. And working in marketing and PR, thats a lot of people to try to explain a gun to, even if I am off the clock...

 

[spacemanspiff]

Yup, I open carry to exercise my rights.

Its the only exercise my fat behind has been getting lately.

 

[SPUSCG]

if i went up north where its more acceptable yes, around town id just scare the s*** out of tourists

 

[dm1333]

I voted yes. I open carry when fishing, biking, ATV'ing, cross country skiing, etc.

 

[kennybs plbg]

in NY. NO firearms allowed in a bank, concealed or otherwise.

This statement is false. The only restricted area's in NY are the courts, federal buildings, and school property without permission.

kenny b

 

[JesseL]

I work in corrections for the local sheriff's office and I have my CCW. My CCW class was taught by a department firearms instructor and one of the things that he talked about was open carry and I happen to agree with him on this. The general public has been forbidden or restricted in their carrying of firearms for over 100 years and as such the general public is not accustomed to seeing openly displayed firearms that are not on the duty belt of a uniformed LEO.

The general public here in Arizona has never been forbidden in their carrying of firearms (with the exception of some unpleasantness in Tombstone a while back). Open carry passes without notice.

I'm happy to do my part in seeing that we never end up with a struggle to regain the rights we abandoned, the way Minnesota evidently has.

 

[springmom]

Yes indeed. Especially in summer. My choices are between a gun that will fit in my Jagwear belt pouch (Kimber Ultra Carry, Bersa .380, or, believe it or not, XD-9) or the m37 snubbie IWB. For a long time I tried to carry IWB with the Kimber and others; it is uncomfortable, and in a Houston summer, the holster gets soaked with sweat by midmorning.

I'd like to say I'd do it on principle, but the fact is, I want to be able to carry the gun I want in a comfortable OWB holster without having to worry about a stray gust of wind landing me with a brandishing charge.

And I'm not worried about hysterics among the public. Most reactions will probably be to ignore it altogether.

Springmom

 

[mvpel]

I carry openly in order to vindicate my fundamental human right of armed self-defense.

Might I get aggressive attention from police officers? Might I annoy passerby? Maybe so, but so did the Black people who sat down in "Whites Only" restaurants.

If those heroic, courageous people could face down fire hoses and attack dogs to stake a claim to fundamental human rights, then I can take a few hairy eyeballs and a bit of aggressive police attention because of my openly carried sidearm in order to stake a claim to fundamental human rights.

Jim Crow wasn't ended by folks who kept on sitting in the back of the bus, it was ended by people who stood up and demanded, fought for, and sued for their rights.

 

[tedwhite]

I'm a former LEO. I carry concealed. I don't normally open carry because I'm not interested in attracting attention to myself.

If I'm going to the range, or out in the desert banging around in a jeep or pickup, or generally out in the middle of nowhere hiking, then I'll open carry my 1911 or my Glock 17. I live on the Arizona/Mexico border, so especially down there.

What I won't carry on the border is an AK47 or a black rifle. Too easy to end up a case of mistaken identity.

 

[Stagger Lee]

What it really boils down to is that people who are not uniformed police officers but want to carry a gun openly in public--and I'm not talking about hiking but wearing the gun in town around others--are just trying to show everyone how big and bad they are because they have a gun. That's all it is.

It's not about Rights at all, even though they'll say that it is because they don't want to tell the truth. It's only about little men trying to feel big by intimidating other people. It's more of a cry for attention than anything else.

 

[Frank Ettin]

When I may legally do so, I will carry conceal (except perhaps in rare circumstance -- like being out in the woods). I don't think it's anyone's business but mine that I'm armed.