I have something going with a friend of mine, any info would be greatly appreciated.
I have heard that you can open carry in WI already. Is this true? Where can you find the info at. Some people have told me you can, no knows where to find the info at. Has anyone on the board done it? If so what happens if the police don't believe you can open carry. It just seems if you could you would have seen someone do it.
Here is another one: If you can legally open carry why get a CCW permit? Or if you get a CCW permit and the gun is showing (if the jacket is open) are you in violation of CCW? Wouldn't the open carry law be ok then?
This is just a few things my friend has brought up and I would like to clairify any of this. Thanks in advance, for those of you who know me its Larry who has brought this up. Go figure.

Thanks again
Batch114

Yes it is legal to open carry in wisconsin- however if you do you still can be arrested/ harrased byt the police. All it will take is one soccer mom type to call the police and say they saw a guy with a gun. Than you have disturbed the peace. You won't see many people doing it for that reason, as well as others. You may see it in rural areas but not in urban areas(because you will get fucked with by the police for doing so), unless you run into me and I'm at home. Than I CCW(legal now on private property or your buisness) or open carry depending on how I feel at the time. It has been a law since i think 1995 when Thompson signed the bill making all firearms laws uniform in the state.

Photoman:

I believe that CCW in a business is a violation of WI law.  I believe that you are right about CCW at your residence.

As far as carrying in the open, I wouldn't recommend that you do it.  Not for the fact that someone will call the police (and they will INVESTIGATE, not harass, mind you!).

Carrying in the open invites problems in my opinion.  You might have children/young people try to touch your gun, drunk/people who think they're funny, try and touch your gun or disarm you for a joke, you will draw unessessary attention to your self, and you will let the bad guys know how to disarm you if they would be so inclined.  These are just a few options that I thought of off the top of my head. There must be many more.

When you carry a firearm, it is best to have no one know that you have one.  That way, if you would ever need to use deadly force to stop an attacker, you will at least have an element of surprise.  Action beats re-action.

Besides, in today's sue happy world, if a mishap occurred because I was carrying in the open, I would not want to be on the stand defending myself as to my "unsafe method of carry" or something simmilar the lawyer will come up with.

This is just my opinion though.

Quoted: Photoman: I believe that CCW in a business is a violation of WI law.

i think a recent court case took care of that one

Quoted: Photoman: I believe that CCW in a business is a violation of WI law.  I believe that you are right about CCW at your residence. As far as carrying in the open, I wouldn't recommend that you do it.  Not for the fact that someone will call the police (and they will INVESTIGATE, not harass, mind you!). Carrying in the open invites problems in my opinion.  You might have children/young people try to touch your gun, drunk/people who think they're funny, try and touch your gun or disarm you for a joke, you will draw unessessary attention to your self, and you will let the bad guys know how to disarm you if they would be so inclined.  These are just a few options that I thought of off the top of my head. There must be many more. When you carry a firearm, it is best to have no one know that you have one.  That way, if you would ever need to use deadly force to stop an attacker, you will at least have an element of surprise.  Action beats re-action. Besides, in today's sue happy world, if a mishap occurred because I was carrying in the open, I would not want to be on the stand defending myself as to my "unsafe method of carry" or something simmilar the lawyer will come up with. This is just my opinion though.

This was hashed out in the state supreme court. If you own a business you may in your business CCW.

Quoted: Photoman: I believe that CCW in a business is a violation of WI law.  I believe that you are right about CCW at your residence. As far as carrying in the open, I wouldn't recommend that you do it.  Not for the fact that someone will call the police (and they will INVESTIGATE, not harass, mind you!). Carrying in the open invites problems in my opinion.  You might have children/young people try to touch your gun, drunk/people who think they're funny, try and touch your gun or disarm you for a joke, you will draw unessessary attention to your self, and you will let the bad guys know how to disarm you if they would be so inclined.  These are just a few options that I thought of off the top of my head. There must be many more. When you carry a firearm, it is best to have no one know that you have one.  That way, if you would ever need to use deadly force to stop an attacker, you will at least have an element of surprise.  Action beats re-action. Besides, in today's sue happy world, if a mishap occurred because I was carrying in the open, I would not want to be on the stand defending myself as to my "unsafe method of carry" or something simmilar the lawyer will come up with. This is just my opinion though.

You've obvisouly never had a run in with a police officer investigating a call for an armed person. My neighbor( not the gun owning one he's cool) called the cops because she saw me with a gun in my back yard. I was perfectly legal, the gun was holstered. It was2 am and I was out having a smoke. You would not believe all the BS I got. The only reason why i did not get a ticket or hauled off to jail is because i was on private property. The officer flat out told me if I had been out on the side walk my ass would have been taken to jail. This was three days after we moved into the new house so perhaps the lady thought it odd, but there was no need for her to call the police. And that was the first of three times that she has called the police on me.

that's too bad.  However, you were not arrested.  If the officer was rude to you or acted unprofessionally, did you speak with his/her superior officer about it?

I believe that there are bad law enforcement officers out there like in any profession.  Just becuase a waiter was rude to me once, doesn't mean that I will think that all waiters are terriable people.

It sounds like you have a neighbor problem.

The one questions I have, and I hope that you do not take offence, but were you nice/civil to the officer or were you curt to him/her right off the bat?  I believe that attitude is everything.  The officer should have still acted in a professional manor in any aspect but I feel that we as citizens should also act civil, even if we are in the wrong or get a ticket.

Not trying to flame you but I see law enforcement bashed here too often because of one bad run in with one cop.  For every bad run in, I'll tell you about 5 or even 10 good run in that I have had.  And yes, I have had bad run ins but I try not to condemd a whole profession for it.

I wasn't sure of the business case being hashed out.  Thanks for chiming in on that one.

You have a right to bear arms under the state constitution.

It is ILLEGAL for any municipality to regulate firearms in any way shape or form besides prohibiting you from discharging them.

No state law prohibits OPEN carry.

So it's legal...

However, major city (and some small town) PDs will probably harrass you about it. You legally can't get convicted (but it is still technically possible), but you may get arrested or cited... When I was in HS, we had a local cop (small suburban village, 20 officer department) inform us that they would 'find a way' to arrest someone open-carrying a gun down the sidewalk...

Quoted: that's too bad.  However, you were not arrested.  If the officer was rude to you or acted unprofessionally, did you speak with his/her superior officer about it? I believe that there are bad law enforcement officers out there like in any profession.  Just becuase a waiter was rude to me once, doesn't mean that I will think that all waiters are terriable people. It sounds like you have a neighbor problem. The one questions I have, and I hope that you do not take offence, but were you nice/civil to the officer or were you curt to him/her right off the bat?  I believe that attitude is everything.  The officer should have still acted in a professional manor in any aspect but I feel that we as citizens should also act civil, even if we are in the wrong or get a ticket. Not trying to flame you but I see law enforcement bashed here too often because of one bad run in with one cop.  For every bad run in, I'll tell you about 5 or even 10 good run in that I have had.  And yes, I have had bad run ins but I try not to condemd a whole profession for it. I wasn't sure of the business case being hashed out.  Thanks for chiming in on that one.

Respect is a two way street if the officer is not civil and respectful from the get go either am I. This particular time he was ans so was I until he muttered the throw yer ass in jail comment. And no I was not arrested ONLY because I was on private property. had i been on a sidewalk in front of my house I would have been. See we have the RKABA in this state but we actually have a defacto ban on it. We can 't CCW-yet- but we can be arrested for open carry. Hell it is simply because of that that we should be allowed to CCW and do it without a permit or permission from the state government.

Photoman- I agree with you 100%. I just was curious on this subject. I see now it doesn't matter what the law is they can bust you on other things and then use the open carry against you in the process. I guess I wont carry until/if the CCW/PPA is passed. Good luck to us all. I know I will be first in line to get one.

Batch114

P.S.

After the Hamadan case, CCW is OK in your home or your place of business (not any business, but the one you personally operate, or work for with the owner's permission)...

Quoted: Or if you get a CCW permit and the gun is showing (if the jacket is open) are you in violation of CCW? Wouldn't the open carry law be ok then? Thanks again Batch114

The PPA gives you a permit to carry and conceal any of the authorized types of weapons (i.e. gun, knife, etc...).

It does not specify that the weapon MUST be concealed, and provides no penalty for failure-to-conceal (some states do have a requirement-to-conceal, the PPA contains no such requirement).

So your PPA permit will be a permit to carry, means determined by the carrier (with the assumption that most will chose concealed).

As for open vs concealed:

Pros (Open):

Faster draw
Easier to carry larger guns
Everyone knows you're armed (less likely to screw with you)

Cons (Open):
May make bystanders 'uncomfortable'
Everyone knows you're armed (so if they do decide to screw with you, they'll anticipate you using your gun)

Ptos (Concealed):
People won't be 'uncomfortable' with a gun they don't know you have...

Suprise - potential attackers won't anticipate you being armed, so they may not be prepared to face down a gun...

Cons (Concealed):

Hard to carry large-caliber/longer-barreled guns

No one knows you're armed - open carry can be a deterrant