I see a lot of threads around the dope with questions about firearms, the legality or otherwise. Seems to be a popular topic.
Obviously laws vary by state, so there’ll be no single definitive answer, but happy to hear about different states rules.
A recent thread has prompted a question, that I’m hoping is not too stupid about firearms and your rights to carry them around. The reference was to not having a concealed carry permit, but being allowed to carry a weapon openly, and some offices having ‘no weapons’ signs.
So, technically speaking are there States where if you so desired you could walk down the street of a major urban centre with a pistol slung on your hip in the best cowboy fashion and you would be well within your rights to do so and the police could do nothing about it?
What about longarms? Could you wonder down the main street with a rifle slung over your back or held loosely under your arm and not be hassled by anyone?
Almost any scenario is legal at someplace or another in the USA. It is a huge and quite varied country.
I presume you are not familiar with American gun regulations. Let’s start with the basics. “Weapons of war” are banned in a practical sense. You cannot hunt deal with a flamethrower. You cannot defend your home with a bazooka.
Next, we need to draw a line between handguns, which are regulated in most places, and long guns which are generally less-regulated.
Handguns are considered most dangerous and so are (usually) the most controlled. Oddly localities have reasoned from this premise to opposite conclusions.
In Pennsylvania, a person with the regular old gun permit may open carry in any urban area. (This drives the Philadelphia police nuts.) The idea is open carry is more honest and less dangerous. Other states forbid open carry, but allow concealed carry on the theory that concealed carry is less likely to upset the public.
Take a look at www.opencarry.org. It’s a pro gun site, but they do have a nifty map with states color coded, and links to suumaries of each state’s laws.
What’s really weird is that sometimes you’ll see places where concealed carry of a gun (but not open carry) is legal with the appropriate permit, but at the same time open carry of any other weapon is allowed (but not concealed).
Besides the crazy-quilt that different state and local rulings create, there are some other rulings that make things interesting.
Private properties are free to set their own restrictions regarding firearms as stringently as they wish - therefore lots of places in more ‘carry friendly’ areas (as well as other places, don’t get me wrong) will have prominent signage advertising that they limit that right in their location.
Federal buildings and property, and many (perhaps all, I can’t find a quick cite) state and local *government *properties restrict weapons altogether. There are often also restrictions (usually set at state level, sometimes at county or city/town level) on weapons carry within certain distances of types of locations - usually schools, sometimes housing, and sometimes places of worship.
So, even in a state and county where open carry is legal and permissible, there could very well be specific limitations that you’d have to be aware of before you take your stetson and your six-shooter off down the street.
:dubious:
First, I’m assuming you meant “deer”, as opposed to “deal”. On that subject, I’ll have to agree.
Secondly, (and emphatically) YES, SIR! You could most definitely, “defend your home” with a “bazooka”!
Granted, you had better get ‘em with the “first shot”, reload time is abysmally slow! Just sayin’…
:dubious:
First, I’m assuming you meant “deer”, as opposed to “deal”. On that subject, I’ll have to agree.
Secondly, (and emphatically) YES, SIR! You could most definitely, “defend your home” with a “bazooka”!
Granted, you had better get ‘em with the “first shot”, reload time is abysmally slow! Just sayin’…
Just an FYI, Open Carry’s information is 1) outdated with respect to Kansas (they’ve not updated the Kansas Constitution section, for instance), and 2) unrealistic even before it was outdated with respect to Kansas. Even in places where open carry is legal, Kansas police in the northeast part of the State have a long-standing tradition of harassment, intimidation, and even illegal arrest of law-abiding open carry citizens.
Nothing “technically” legal about it. In many states it is absolutely legal and protected by the state constitution.
Some police officers seem to think it’s disorderly conduct. Their illegal arrests of open carriers have costs tax payers a pretty penny in law suites. An ADVISORY MEMORANDUM from the Wisconsin Attorney General greatly reduced, but did not eliminate this crap here in the Majikal Land O’cheeze. Ask the taxpayers of Brookfield and Madison. Thousands of their dollars went into the pockets of open carriers due to the harassment from cops from those communities. However, in reality most of the real harassment comes from ignorant citizens asking stupid questions.
“Walking down the street”? Yes, definitely. But open carry doesn’t mean unrestricted open carry. In Montana, for example, even a concealed carry permit does not allow you to carry a weapon into a government-owned or -leased building, a school, or anyplace that serves alcoholic beverages.
Interestingly, you are less likely to be bothered when carrying a long gun than with a handgun.
I remember when I was a teenager in Boulder, Colorado and I bought a machete at an army surplus store. The store owner told me it was okay to strap it to my belt and walk home with it, but I could not carry it in a paper bag, as that would be considered concealed carry.
How likely is it that you’d be charged with Brandishing (assuming it exists, I’m getting this from the TeeVee) if you’re just walking down the street with a gun? Your word against the cop’s that you weren’t doing anything menacing?
As a foreigner, I find it weird that any sane person wants to carry a weapon openly on a city street, and even more weird that he might have a legal right to do it. The level of public paranoia (or some other insanity) implied by that right is frankly frightening.
If you’re allowed to carry a pistol, why not a lance, a cross-bow or a sword, which are more limited in their effect? I’d probably choose a mace (the old-fashioned club, not the spray). There’s something satisfying about using a mace on the car which took my parking spot.
How do you get to a gun range to safely practice, or bring your gun to a gunsmith for a repair if you can not transport? [or even go hunting if you can not transport.]
I live in Ohio, and openly carry my 9 mm whenever I’m out-n-about. I use a standard holster on a belt. Though I have a valid concealed handgun license issued by the State of Ohio, I do not need it in order to open carry while afoot; the license simply allows me to open carry in my car. So unless you’re in a vehicle, no license of any kind is required to openly carry a handgun in Ohio.
Having said that, I also understand some LEOs are not fans of open carry, and there have been incidences of LEOs harassing people who do it. So I always have a digital audio recorder running whenever I open carry.
Unloaded, in a locked case, either carried in your hands or in the trunk of your car. ISTM that the main focus of this thread is open carry of a loaded handgun, in a holster. Clearly Crafter_Man isn’t heading to the range each and every day.
I know of an African-American man who was put on the ground twice in Norfolk, Va for openly carrying. The city of Norfolk paid quite a bit of cash for those mistakes.
