A current thread on open carry legalities prompted me to post this one.

How many on here have acutally be hasseled or gotten into trouble for open carrying a firearm (any firearm)?

-1

Never done it.

I get a lot of dirty or curious looks when I do it, mostly from children.

Never done it/ tag.

Only have done it a few times, hasn't been an issue


actually, got GREAT treatment at a Subway open carrying.........

A new neighbor moved nearby last summer.

As usual I was walking the mutts open carrying.

Walked passed her house and she rather insistantly asked......"Excuse me, but are you a police officer?"

"No," I said "why?"

"Then why do you have a gun?" She asked?

Me: "You moved here from Maryland, didn't you?"

Her: "Yes, how did you know?"

Me: "Lucky guess, do you have car insurance?."

Her: "Of course I do."

Me: "My gun is like insurance....better to have it and not need it, than need it and NOT have it.....have a good day."

I don't get harassed. Matter of fact most people assume I'm a professional or ask me if I'm duty.

When they see my Glock Fo-Tay, they know I'm on the job.

I wish I could. It'd be a hell of alot more comfortable.  

where can I find out more about this open carry thing

Quoted: A new neighbor moved nearby last summer. As usual I was walking the mutts open carrying. Walked passed her house and she rather insistantly asked......"Excuse me, but are you a police officer?" "No," I said "why?" "Then why do you have a gun?" She asked? Me: "You moved here from Maryland, didn't you?" Her: "Yes, how did you know?" Me: "Lucky guess, do you have car insurance?." Her: "Of course I do." Me: "My gun is like insurance....better to have it and not need it, than need it and NOT have it.....have a good day."

She probably went inside and called the police to let them know there was a man walking around wearing.... dum dum dum... a gun!

Quoted: A new neighbor moved nearby last summer. As usual I was walking the mutts open carrying. Walked passed her house and she rather insistantly asked......"Excuse me, but are you a police officer?" "No," I said "why?" "Then why do you have a gun?" She asked? Me: "You moved here from Maryland, didn't you?" Her: "Yes, how did you know?" Me: "Lucky guess, do you have car insurance?." Her: "Of course I do." Me: "My gun is like insurance....better to have it and not need it, than need it and NOT have it.....have a good day."

Fuckin' figures man.
I hate this state.

Quoted: Quoted: A new neighbor moved nearby last summer. As usual I was walking the mutts open carrying. Walked passed her house and she rather insistantly asked......"Excuse me, but are you a police officer?" "No," I said "why?" "Then why do you have a gun?" She asked? Me: "You moved here from Maryland, didn't you?" Her: "Yes, how did you know?" Me: "Lucky guess, do you have car insurance?." Her: "Of course I do." Me: "My gun is like insurance....better to have it and not need it, than need it and NOT have it.....have a good day." She probably went inside and called the police to let them know there was a man walking around wearing.... dum dum dum... a gun!

If she did that around here the pollce probably educated her on the VA law.

My dad tried it in the mall once. Got asked nicely by security to leave and put it in his car. Private property and their rules. Dad had no problem with it.

I withdrew $12,500 from a bank in cash once (yes, it was my money) with a sidearm on my hip. No, one even blinked.

A chick making me a sub at Jersey Mikes (MAKE ME A SAMMICH) saw my "clips."

"You have clips... are you a cop or something?"

"Or something."  Then I took my sammich turned around and left.  I am sure she then saw my Glock 20, in addition to my "clips."  That is the only hassle I ever got.

Quoted: I wish I could. It'd be a hell of alot more comfortable.

You can, but without a CPL it would be a pain because you have to unload it and lock it up every time you get in your car.

From packing.org;

Open carry of handguns is legal except in certain areas (see restrictions), some municipalities, and in your vehicle. However, open carry is not common, and most likely you will be hassled (try carrying openly in Detroit). Also, as soon as you get to your car you have to meet the other requirements (unloaded, etc.). It is a real hassle to carry openly in Michigan. No license is needed to carry a pistol as long as it is exposed. However, should a person cover the pistol during inclement weather with a jacket or coat or get into a vehicle, the pistol would be concealed, and the carrier would place himself in jeopardy unless he possessed a concealed pistol license. Per Attorney General's opinion #3158, a holster, in plain view, is not considered concealed.

Michigan has open carry (or so I have been told)....but I live in the Detroit area...I'll settle for paying the $300 to CCW for the next 5 years.  I would draw too much attention, and or open myself up to being a target first if I open carried.

No Expert

ETA  Damn, Out-a-ammo beat me by a minute.  That's what I get for reading and typing slow.

Quoted: Quoted: I wish I could. It'd be a hell of alot more comfortable.   You can, but without a CPL it would be a pain because you have to unload it and lock it up every time you get in your car. From packing.org; Open carry of handguns is legal except in certain areas (see restrictions), some municipalities, and in your vehicle. However, open carry is not common, and most likely you will be hassled (try carrying openly in Detroit). Also, as soon as you get to your car you have to meet the other requirements (unloaded, etc.). It is a real hassle to carry openly in Michigan. No license is needed to carry a pistol as long as it is exposed. However, should a person cover the pistol during inclement weather with a jacket or coat or get into a vehicle, the pistol would be concealed, and the carrier would place himself in jeopardy unless he possessed a concealed pistol license. Per Attorney General's opinion #3158, a holster, in plain view, is not considered concealed.

What will you tell the popo when they slam you to the ground?

Open carry 30% of the time around town, no problems but people think I am JBT, even the cops.

The only times I've ever open carried in FL is when I was hunting, and the handgun was not the item that was drawing most of the attention, the rifle was.

Quoted: A chick making me a sub at Jersey Mikes (MAKE ME A SAMMICH) saw my "clips." "You have clips... are you a cop or something?" "Or something."  Then I took my sammich turned around and left.  I am sure she then saw my Glock 20, in addition to my "clips."  That is the only hassle I ever got.

Thats being hassled?

I've never open carried, but have seen people get hassled for open carry more than once.  Security guards will "discreetly" follow you through stores if they don't outright ask you to leave.  People will inform cops and guards, I've even seen one person carrying who was being video taped as he and his family walked through the mall.  Eventually you'll have some kind of problem over it, specially if you carry in areas where it is not common.  Most sheeple are afriad of guns and people that carry them.  You'll draw attention to yourself and I've found that's a mistake in itself.  I'd rather blend in when I'm among the sheep.

This has all been some time ago, I don't see people open carrying around where I live much anymore.  

If you've got the option to carry concealed I highly recommend it over open carry.  I've been carrying concealed for 27 years and I can gaurantee that if no one knows it's there you won't get hassled.

Quoted: I wish I could. It'd be a hell of alot more comfortable.

It's legal here. But, carrying your 1911/Gock/SIG at your local Meijers might get you an invitation to not come back, and possibly a Disturbing the Peace charge. The (retired) officer whe gave us our CCW class instruction told us that that's how it would go down in most places. He didn't like it either.

I open carry when I go for walks in the dark. Usually that also entails a walk to the nearby ATM to make a deposit or withdrawl. Keep myself and my money safe

-Foxxz

I don't do it often, but I just get curious stares when I open carry. I think it has something to do with a female packing a big bad 1911.

What would Rosa Parks do?

I don't like to draw attention to myself, so I carry concealed. Staying under the radar is a good thing.....never invite the man into your life. I say again- Never invite the man into your life.

Virginia allows open carry.  Below is an article from the Washington Post in which the Fairfax County Police (near Washington, D.C.) apparently didn't get the memo and confiscated guns.

Guns Worn In Open Legal, But Alarm Va.
'Exercising Right' Called 'Unreasonable' by Some
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 15, 2004; Page A01
On July 2, Fairfax County police received a 911 call from a Champps restaurant in Reston. Six men are seated at a table, the caller said. They're all armed. Dispatchers quickly sent four officers to the scene. The officers were "extremely polite" and were hoping that some of the men were in law enforcement, said Sgt. Richard Perez, a spokesman for the police department. None was.
The men told the officers "they were just exercising their rights as citizens of the commonwealth," Perez said.
Turns out, packing a pistol in public is perfectly legal in Virginia. And three times in the last month, including at Champps on Sunset Hills Road, residents have been spotted out and about in the county, with guns strapped to their hips, exercising that right.
In the first episode, at a Starbucks, Fairfax police wrongly confiscated weapons from two college students and charged them with a misdemeanor. Police realized their mistake, returned the guns and tore up the charges the next day. Police commanders have since issued a reminder to officers that "open carry" is the law of the land in the Old Dominion.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, an organization of thousands of Virginia gun owners, said members were involved in all three police encounters. But he said there was no coordinated campaign to start packing heat publicly.
"It was probably more of a coincidence, but not completely," Van Cleave said, noting that word of the improper confiscation spread quickly among members through e-mail. "This is a good opportunity to educate people. We have this inherent right, and not many people exercised it."
In Virginia, as in many states, carrying a concealed weapon requires a permit, issued by a local court. But no permit is required to simply wield a gun in the open, a right reinforced by a state law that took effect July 1. Not so in the District and Maryland, unless you're a police or federal officer.
Fairfax police are baffled by the sudden display of weaponry but assume it was done to make some sort of statement.
"Crime is at 20-year lows in the county," Lt. Col. Charles K. Peters pointed out, even though the population is soaring. The county's homicide rate was the lowest in the nation last year among the 30 largest jurisdictions. "Hopefully no one feels the need to carry a gun, lawfully or unlawfully," Peters said. "But there's no question it is lawful to carry a gun on the street. So we've had to ensure that all of our officers are updated on the nuances of Virginia law that allow citizens to carry firearms in public places."
Although legal, it is disconcerting to some people.
"This just shows you the extreme nature of what they're trying to do," said Bob Ricker, head of Virginians for Public Safety. "You don't want to go to Starbucks or Reston Town Center and see somebody with a firearm strapped on," he added, referring to two locations where armed patrons were found. "It's just something that I think is completely unreasonable. We all understand the concept of self-defense. . . . But when you're talking about Fairfax County, you have to look at what is reasonable."
The first incident, at a Starbucks on Leesburg Pike near Tysons Corner, might have inspired other gun owners to carry openly. It began shortly before 10 p.m. June 14, Perez said, with a complaint from a citizen. Police arrived to find a 19-year-old man carrying a .22-caliber pistol and a 21-year-old man with a 9mm pistol.
Perez said an officer spoke with the men, then took their guns and charged them with possession of a firearm in a public place. Virginia law 18.2-287.4 expressly prohibits "carrying loaded firearms in public areas."
But the second paragraph of the law defines firearms only as any semiautomatic weapon that holds more than 20 rounds or a shotgun that holds more than seven rounds -- assault rifles, mostly, Van Cleave said. Regular six-shooters or pistols with nine- or 10-shot magazines are not " The day after the arrest, the officer consulted with a county prosecutor and determined that "he had erred," Perez said. He summoned the two men to the McLean District station, returned their weapons and dropped the charges.
Van Cleave said word of the incident, along with news of a similar incident in Richmond, spread through the defense league's e-mail alert system. "I think people were saying, 'I think I do want to open carry,' " Van Cleave said, though he added the league neither encourages nor discourages the practice.
Carrying weapons openly was not unprecedented locally, Van Cleave said. He said that the defense league has a monthly meeting in Northern Virginia with 25 to 30 members and that most go out to dinner afterward with their sidearms openly visible. "We've had 40 people open carry, in a restaurant, with no problem," he said.
Three days after the incident at Champps, a married couple were walking their dogs down Market Street, the busy thoroughfare in the heart of Reston Town Center, about 3 p.m. In addition to pistols on their hips, Perez said, both the man and woman were carrying an extra magazine of ammunition. An officer spoke with them and was informed that they were members of the defense league and were aware of the Starbucks incident. Perez said the officer took no further action, although Van Cleave said a lieutenant arrived and urged Town Center security to eject them.
Managers at the Starbucks, Champps and Town Center all declined to comment.
Van Cleave said the gun owners might have been out celebrating a law that took effect July 1. Virginia statute 15.2-915 now completely prohibits any locality from enacting any regulations on gun ownership, carrying, storage or purchase, except for rules related to the workforce. Alexandria, for example, had an ordinance prohibiting openly carrying guns. It is now invalid, Van Cleave said.
"It's like the Fourth of July," Van Cleave said. "A whole new set of freedoms came in. . . . All local gun control is completely and totally gone."
Legislators said they passed the bill to eliminate duplicative regulations, particularly in counties such as Fairfax, which imposed its own gun permit process in addition to the federally mandated background check.
Openly carrying weapons is "not a good idea," said Kristen Rand of the Violence Policy Center in Washington. "This is the gun lobby's vision of how America should be. Everybody's packing heat and ready to engage in a shootout at the slightest provocation."
Ricker said the gun owners "are probably doing their cause more harm than good by raising this issue. It raises an awareness and gives people who are more rational thinkers the opportunity to go to their legislators and make their views known."
Van Cleave said most gun owners, particularly defense league members or concealed weapon permit owners, are law-abiding. Anti-gun forces "have come to think guns themselves are evil. You've got to worry about the person, not the gun."

Quoted: I don't like to draw attention to myself, so I carry concealed. Staying under the radar is a good thing...

Agreed, even though it's legal for me to open carry, I went ahead and got a concealed carry permit.  Just my preference not to advertise that I'm carrying.

Quoted: I don't like to draw attention to myself, so I carry concealed. Staying under the radar is a good thing.....never invite the man into your life. I say again- Never invite the man into your life.

Do you have a CPL authorized by the man?

Open carry is WAY more comfy....I just make it a point to be super polite. Even soccer moms selling Girl Scout cookies aren't afraid of the gun toting guy that buys a case of thin mints....

Used to open carry in the woods when I lived in MI's upper penninsula.  The only time I encountered a conservation LEO he disarmed me, checked my fishing license then placed the handgun on dry leaves and asked me not to pick it up until he was well out of sight.  All very cordial, no complaints here on how it was handled considering we were hours from his closest backup.

Kent

i open carry 99% of the time, though i do have my CCW. it's just way easier to carry a fullsize auto, and more comfortable to boot.

i've nevr been hassled, but i have gotten questioned by regular people on more than a few occasions.

"is that a REAL gun!!??"

"uhhh, yeah. why would i walk around carrying a fake one?"

it bothers me that people are so ignorant of their basic rights as an american, and the fact that in many states you can just open carry without needing more than a pistol and a holster and yet they still don't know. it bothers me that people think it's illegal outside of law-enforcement activity.

that's one of the reasons i open carry as much as possible. i think CCW does more harm then good in that the sheeple just don't have any perspective as to exactly who carrys guns, and how many of them there are. i think the perception of guns would chenge a lot if the sheeple realized that 1/2 of their neighborhood of good people, pack heat every day.

Quoted: What will you tell the popo when they slam you to the ground?

"You'd better get a LAW-yer..." in a sing-song voice loud enough to be heard on their dash cam.

Quoted: Quoted: I wish I could. It'd be a hell of alot more comfortable.   It's legal here. But, carrying your 1911/Gock/SIG at your local Meijers might get you an invitation to not come back, and possibly a Disturbing the Peace charge. The (retired) officer whe gave us our CCW class instruction told us that that's how it would go down in most places. He didn't like it either.

Disturbing the Peace? Sounds like "deprivation of civil Rights under color of Law"....

I've never done it, except when walking alone in the woods.  I used to carry a Keltec P3AT in my right front pants pocket, with a shirt over it.  Occasionally when I would stretch or whatever, someone would notice the weapon, so I stopped carrying it.

I've been asked why I was carrying in a store before by an employee. When he started saying I couldn't carry a gun I reminded him that state law requires a sign to be placed in a visible location at the entrance and if he didn't believe me to call the police. He did, they agreed, and he felt stupid.
I carry concealed now mainly to eliminate run ins like those and because advertising is not my thing.

Quoted: I've been asked why I was carrying in a store before by an employee. When he started saying I couldn't carry a gun I reminded him that state law requires a sign to be placed in a visible location at the entrance and if he didn't believe me to call the police. He did, they agreed, and he felt stupid. I carry concealed now mainly to eliminate run ins like those and because advertising is not my thing.

while "advertising" can be a pain in the ass at times, you taught that employee, and others in the store, a very important lesson. that should be worth the trouble.

I've opened carried a couple of times (other than being on the former job) no issues.

I prefer concealed though.

In addition to pistols on their hips, Perez said, both the man and woman were carrying an extra magazine of ammunition.

Oh God Nooooo!   Say it aint so!  

Yup. I payed my money, took the class and jumped through the hoops like a good sheep.  

Quoted: Quoted: I don't like to draw attention to myself, so I carry concealed. Staying under the radar is a good thing.....never invite the man into your life. I say again- Never invite the man into your life. Do you have a CPL authorized by the man?

You all shouldn't get hassled for open carrying if you are wearing your Concealed Carry badges clipped right next the holster on your belt.




 That was a joke by the way, had a guy at a gunshop tell me that once.

Quoted: You all shouldn't get hassled for open carrying if you are wearing your Concealed Carry badges clipped right next the holster on your belt.  That was a joke by the way, had a guy at a gunshop tell me that once.

I've open carried several times with no issues.  I've had several ask if I'm FBI.

I rarely open carry, but the only people to ever ask about it were friends.  They said, "why did you start doing that all of the sudden?"  My reply was, "all of the sudden?  you've just seen it all of the sudden."  I've been carrying for about three years.  No big deal.  

I used to open carry in New Orleans before I got my CCW Permit all the time.  Never been hassled.  I have open carried in Baton Rouge a few times as well with no hassles.  Sometimes the odd look, but that's it.

Yep, had a out of state puke call 911 on me for open carying while filing up my pickup at the Flying J.

Also was harassed by the mall ninja's for wearing a vest. Seems this super FAT female mall ninja knew anybody wearing a vest was armed & that since I had a vest on I had a gun. She gave me lots of shit saying we had to leave the mall as no firearms were allowed  (was with the wife and 2 kids) till I told her it was a good thing I did not have a gun or I'd shoot her dead where she stood since she was following us around the mall.

She said she was going to call the police for making a death threat towards a uniformed security agent. I just looked at her and said, no threat was made and how in the hell does a dead person call 911

She about shit and backed off but still followed us around the mall

Oh and yes I had a 1911 in a Blade Tech holster on under the vest

I host a regular poker at my house. Lat night decided to wear a belt holster instead of an IWB, because it is my house and I want to be comfortable dammit! Well, it was showing out the bottom of my t-shirt, and a couple of the guys commented on it, asking why I needed tha for our poker game.  I told them that I always have a gun and left it at that.

Open carried 2 AR15's right past city hall in San Francisco  one night.
Walked into a office/aparament complex, past the security gaurd and onto the elevators.
(unloaded, no ammo on me)
No one said a thing to me. Or even paid any attention.

I had a guy who I worked for.  I said "uhhhh what do you mean?"  He said "You know who do you work for?"  I said "Ridgerunner Forestry", and he said "Is that like Blackwater?  Just asking because I am DEA"