# Dopers in open carry states. Do you see a lot of people carrying in non-threatening environments? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 1, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720 "2015-01-01T22:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/21 "2015-01-03T22:25:09Z")
Wisconsin is a good open carry state. It’s legality is even recognized by a couple of state laws. And contrary to what [opencarry.org](http://opencarry.org) says, one can open carry in a vehicle. This was confirmed by training the Attorney Generals office held for law enforcement officers. I’ll open carry when I walk my dogs or ride my bike. But I rarely see others doing it. Saw a guy OC on a motorcycle about 6 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![bubba001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@bubba001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba001)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/22 "2015-01-04T02:39:23Z")
There were a couple of open carry rallies here in Livingston county, Michigan. I was in a diner that they were doing their rally in. Lots of fat, old, white guys. One guy was wearing a tactical rig, low slung, with a bunch of extra mags. He was also extremely obese, probably 450+ lbs. I don’t think he had seen his dick in years. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/23 "2015-01-04T05:10:09Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Well, you might get shot by a two-year-old. \*\*chiroptera \*\*for the win. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/24 "2015-01-04T11:41:37Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I can think of only one exception: At a little rural mom 'n pop diner, the cook always had a .45 strapped on. He cooked in plain view of the patrons. It was very in-your-face and conveyed a message not conducive to comfort in a fine dining establishment. They sold shortly after to a much more relaxed proprietor. The business is thriving these days. And that’s the problem with open carry in many situations, I think. It telegraphs an aggressive message that unsettles a lot of people. It telegraphs to me the person has esteem issues. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/25 "2015-01-04T15:16:24Z")
Missouri is open-carry, and I’ve seen someone openly carrying a firearm exactly once. It was probably 20 years ago - in a library, of all places. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/26 "2015-01-05T19:39:16Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I’m also in Georgia, a state so in love with their guns that one community has a law [\*requiring \*gun ownership](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennesaw,_Georgia#Gun_law)\*. But I cannot remember the last time I saw someone open carrying, who wasn’t a LEO. Granted, I live in a near suburb of Atlanta that is firmly blue, LGBT-friendly, and liberal. +1, except I live in an Atlanta Suburb that is firmly red, LBGT nuetral, and conservative. I have a CCW license but only carry a weapon when on my way to a firing range and never openly - always in a case. I like having the option, but can’t imagine going OC as a matter of course. ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/27 "2015-01-05T20:42:05Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > During hunting season, all the time. All other times of the year, never. > > (Vermont has no restrictions on concealed or open carry.) That’s interesting - I grew up in Vermont, and even during hunting season, I basically never saw someone carrying in the sort of contexts the OP mentions. Oh, lots of folks had a rifle on a rack inside the cabs of their pickups, but unless they were actually hunting, practice shooting, or taking them into be serviced, they didn’t carry them around. And the only handguns I ever saw were either locked up in cabinets or being worn by on-duty police. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/28 "2015-01-05T20:53:12Z")
Austin is a bit different from most Texas cities, but for what its worth… I almost never see anyone who’s not a cop or Travis County deputy carrying a gun openly here. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/29 "2015-01-05T20:56:45Z")
Very rarely here in Minnesota, only once in California when I was a kid. We were camping in the Sierras and there was a dad with a pistol on his hip; he said it was loaded with shot because there had been rattlesnakes in the area. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720/30 "2015-01-07T05:31:12Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > I’m in Georgia here - I see people with guns all the time at my local Walmart. Don’t know what is so threatening about a Walmart… Just don’t be Black. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-open-carry-states-do-you-see-a-lot-of-people-carrying-in-non-threatening-environments/708720.md?page=1)