Open Carry

[remdog]

Sometimes people forget that they can open carry in some states. For instance, in Maine I can open carry as long as I don't have a loaded weapon in a car or enter a school zone. So let's say I wanted to go for an hour walk in the evening around my neighborhood and I have seen where crime has gone up a bit in my state due to economic hardship, I decide to open carry.

My first question would be how would the local police honestly feel about me out walking the neighborhood with a loaded 9mm even though it is well within my right? I am sure I would freak out one of my neighbors since it would be out of the ordinary. They would call the cops and I would more than likely be stopped and questioned. Therefore I would carry my ID since a police officer can stop me and ask for identification and I would have to present them with something. But beyond that they would probably ask me why I was carrying.

My reply would be something as simple as "I am exercising my 2nd amendment right and the crime rate, as well as muggings have gone up in the state, and therefore I would like to take the opportunity to defend myself."

Now not to throw a stink bomb but I have seen how police have responded to things like this in the past. How would I be certain not be tazed and dragged downtown or even held at gunpoint since some may perceive me as a madman walking the streets at night???

Now I don't think I am at a point honestly where I would open carry and take a walk but it has crossed my mind if things do get any worse I may have to. I would probably get a CC first as not to draw attention and would probably have more success and respect from officers. But to have no CC and to open carry, I would be afraid I would be perceived as a criminal or trying to start problems.

I guess I would like to know how cops would react to a 33 year old white man walking up and down streets at night open carrying a loaded 9mm.. even if it is completely legal...

[grumpyirishman]

If it's legal, it's legal...we do not harrass folks for doing legal things..:cool:

[scott715us]

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's smart. Conceal it or obtain the proper permits to carry concealed. I will never understand states that allow legal open carry, but require a permit to carry it concealed. If open carry is legal, then so should concealed carry. The gun is on the person's hip either way. The fact that a shirt/jacket covers it should not make a da** bit of difference. I never support open carry because it just paints a big target on the carrier. There is a reason LEOs carry concealed off-duty. #1 - I don't want everyone knowing I'm a LEO, and #2 - I don't want everyone to know I have a firearm.

[Ispbear]

If it's legal, it's legal...we do not harrass folks for doing legal things..:cool:

Disagree,

The response would be like this.

Call: Subject walking down the street with a firearm.

Response: Units arive, subject taken at gunpoint and handcuffed for questioning. Sorry, I don't know if your a nutcase out for harming others or a normal citizen legally excercising his rights. As an Officer, I'm not going to give anyone the upperhand because I don't know what the situation is. Therfore you will be taken into custody at gunpoint. Now just because your handcuffed and questioned doesn't mean you will be charged with any crime. But if you think it is worth the hassel then go for it.
The best thing you can do though is meet the requirements and get your concealed carry permit. It saves everyone the trouble and problems. I know this doesn't seem right, but unfortunately as an officer I have to play it the safe way to go home at night.

[nikerret]

Open carry is not a big deal here.

Some localities have an Ordinance against it, ours does not. I support open carry for those who choose.

Another dumb part of the law is you only have to be 18 to carry open, but 21 to carry concealed (with a permit).

Personally, I think gun laws are ineffective. A person who is willing to take a life feloniously isn't going to care what means are used to execute the action.

I open carried before I was a LEO. I didn't feel like spending the $150 for the permit, plus $125-150 for an eight hour class just to carry a firearm.

I did carry a copy of the most recent law (photocopy). Most LEO's know the law, some do not on things they don't encounter often.

[nikerret]

Call: Subject walking down the street with a firearm.

Response: Units arive, subject taken at gunpoint and handcuffed for questioning. Sorry, I don't know if your a nutcase out for harming others or a normal citizen legally excercising his rights. As an Officer, I'm not going to give anyone the upperhand because I don't know what the situation is. Therfore you will be taken into custody at gunpoint. Now just because your handcuffed and questioned doesn't mean you will be charged with any crime.

Most of the nutcases won't have the firearm holstered. If they do it won't be visible. A person's demeanor, dress, and activities should all be taken into account before you go drawing down on a guy who has a holstered firearm with his kids at the park.

How many criminals have you seen use a holster? I have never seen one. Every person I have found a firearm on that had a holster was carrying it legally. The thugs don't carry a holster because the holster is a signal to LE that a gun was ditched somewhere prior to the contact.

[grumpyirishman]

Disagree,

The response would be like this.

Call: Subject walking down the street with a firearm.

Response: Units arive, subject taken at gunpoint and handcuffed for questioning. Sorry, I don't know if your a nutcase out for harming others or a normal citizen legally excercising his rights. As an Officer, I'm not going to give anyone the upperhand because I don't know what the situation is. Therfore you will be taken into custody at gunpoint. Now just because your handcuffed and questioned doesn't mean you will be charged with any crime. But if you think it is worth the hassel then go for it.

That's the Illinois mentality..I grew up in Chicago and understand you, but if one of my officers did that to a person just walking down the street with a gun on his hip, he better have a damn good articulable reason or he would be facing disciplinary action and the department could be subject to civil action. Remember, we don't make the laws, we enforce the laws. Many groups in Northern Virginia (very urban area) have been testing officers' responses in the past few years, just to get the publicity for their groups. Fairfax County issued a very contrite apology last year to three gun-toting law abiding citizens. :cool:

[txinvestigator1]

Disagree,

The response would be like this.

Call: Subject walking down the street with a firearm.

Response: Units arive, subject taken at gunpoint and handcuffed for questioning. Sorry, I don't know if your a nutcase out for harming others or a normal citizen legally excercising his rights. As an Officer, I'm not going to give anyone the upperhand because I don't know what the situation is. Therfore you will be taken into custody at gunpoint. Now just because your handcuffed and questioned doesn't mean you will be charged with any crime. But if you think it is worth the hassel then go for it.

Wow. Sounds like the response of a liberal gun grabber. If it is legal to carry a gun down the street in the open, you abuse your authority by taking a person who is not suspect of any crime at gunpoint.

Good grief.

The best thing you can do though is meet the requirements and get your concealed carry permit. It saves everyone the trouble and problems. I know this doesn't seem right, but unfortunately as an officer I have to play it the safe way to go home at night.

If it is legal to open carry then you need to get over it. :rolleyes:

[Ispbear]

Sorry Tex to ruffle your feathers, but I'm as far from liberal as you can get. I work a rural area, Not IL Grumpy. If I get a call of an armed individual walking down the street you expect me to walk up to him all; Hey whats going on today?
I'm saying officer safety dictates all. I have no problems disarming the individual until the contact is over. I have no clue what the individuals intentions are and in my area this would be extremely out of the ordinary. If I found the individual was within the law after talking to him, then I have no problem with returning the weapon, shaking his hand, and sending him on his way.

[nikerret]

There is one question that it is imperative Dispatch gets from the person reporting the "man with a gun".

"What is the man doing with the gun?"

If the answer is walking down the street with his dog and the gun is in a holster the only response necessary is to make a quick contact to appease the RP. Then, go to the RP and explain that what the individual was doing is legal. Make sure to thank them for paying attention and being willing to report something they saw as out of place.

If the answer is waving it around yelling obscenities taking him down at gunpoint is much more appropriate.

Many people in the general public are ignorant of firearms and have been conditioned by the media to be afraid at the very sight of a firearm. The Sheriff I work for is allowing me to get a program started to familiarize citizens without any firearm experience.

[scott715us]

Wow. Sounds like the response of a liberal gun grabber. If it is legal to carry a gun down the street in the open, you abuse your authority by taking a person who is not suspect of any crime at gunpoint.

Good grief.

I don't think it's fair to look at it that way. It will vary from city to city, county to county, state to state. The legal aspect is just a small part of it. What is the common and accepted practice in the community and how the police, legislators, judges, and attorneys deal with it play a bigger role. It seems that people think it's so easy to read the black and white print and deal with gun owners the same way. It's not that simple.

Open carry may be a common practice in one area where police are completely comfortable with it. In other areas, multiple calls will come in and the police are going to respond the way they have been trained and the way firearms are dealt with in their respective jurisdiction. Every encounter and every case will be different.

Although TN does not specify that a permit holder has to carry his weapon concealed, they all do, and for good reason (in my opinion). Should I encounter or get called to a person with a weapon, they are going to be checked out. Open carry is not a common practice in my state and I will deal with the situation accordingly. Whether I actually unholser my weapon will be determined at the time it happens with many things taken into consideration (i.e. neighborhood, time of day, demeanor of person). I will say that I do not see this as "harassment." I see this as making sure that person has the right to carry the gun and that said person has no intentions of using it on me or anyone else. Considering that it is illegal to carry without a permit in my state, I have a little more leeway.

[DeltaV]

Sorry Tex to ruffle your feathers, but I'm as far from liberal as you can get. I work a rural area, Not IL Grumpy. If I get a call of an armed individual walking down the street you expect me to walk up to him all; Hey whats going on today?
I'm saying officer safety dictates all. I have no problems disarming the individual until the contact is over. I have no clue what the individuals intentions are and in my area this would be extremely out of the ordinary. If I found the individual was within the law after talking to him, then I have no problem with returning the weapon, shaking his hand, and sending him on his way.

Is open carry legal in your state? If it is and the subject is not violating any laws by doing anything improper with the firearm or carrying the firearm in a place he shouldn't be, you have no legal right to approach him at gunpoint, disarm him, and conduct a Terry Stop. If walking down the street with a gun holstered on your hip is legal, then it can't possibly give you reasonable suspicion to believe a crime is being committed. The most you can do in such a situation is make a consensual encounter. It doesn't matter if it's out of the ordinary or not, it's LEGAL and you would be violating his rights by detaining him and disarming him.

Like grumpyirishman said, there are Second Amendment groups out there that do this type of thing on purpose. Florida's law allows you to openly carry while fishing, and several departments and individual officers have been sued for civil rights violations because of unlawful detentions and arrests. You can't just stop someone at gunpoint because something that is perfectly legal isn't common in your area.

[remdog]

Hey thanks all for the replies. Even though I am not an officer I do understand the wanting to come home at night part. My uncle was a state trooper for a long time and it got to the point where he was just trying to get home each night.

Also it would be really weird for someone to see me with a holstered gun in my neighborhood since the crime rate is low. But in the last 6 months we have had some muggings and crime has gone up. I was just wondering how most officers would react to a guy taking a walk at night with a gun on his hip.

Where I have 6 kids I would probably be more afraid of someone calling DHS than the cops. Cops are friendly around here and work within the law. DHS can find dirty dishes laying around and steal your kids. Most people in my neighborhood know me and my kids and some are quite liberal bark eater types and if they saw me with a gun I am sure DHS would get a phone call etc etc and then I spend the rest of my life trying to get my kids back.

So I think there are other forces out there that are keeping me from making it worth my while. At least at this point I agree with if I am going to carry I should get a CC and hide it. Nobody needs to know I am armed...

Thanks guys and I appreciate the time you have put into your answers. ;)

[DeltaV]

Nobody needs to know I am armed...

That's the truth. With the exception of things like hunting and fishing, nobody should be walking around openly carrying firearms. While it may be legal in some places, it's not smart. While many firearms enthusiasts like to shoot, I haven't met many who practice weapon retention or carry their guns in security holsters. In a second you could be disarmed. I responded to a bank robbery once where the offender basically walked up next to the security guard and took his weapon out of the holster in about a second. It's just not something that's smart to do unless you're trained how to retain that weapon should someone attempt to take it from you.

[grumpyirishman]

Is open carry legal in your state? If it is and the subject is not violating any laws by doing anything improper with the firearm or carrying the firearm in a place he shouldn't be, you have no legal right to approach him at gunpoint, disarm him, and conduct a Terry Stop. If walking down the street with a gun holstered on your hip is legal, then it can't possibly give you reasonable suspicion to believe a crime is being committed. The most you can do in such a situation is make a consensual encounter. It doesn't matter if it's out of the ordinary or not, it's LEGAL and you would be violating his rights by detaining him and disarming him.

Like grumpyirishman said, there are Second Amendment groups out there that do this type of thing on purpose. Florida's law allows you to openly carry while fishing, and several departments and individual officers have been sued for civil rights violations because of unlawful detentions and arrests. You can't just stop someone at gunpoint because something that is perfectly legal isn't common in your area.

Agree..+1..;)