Open carry 101

September 10, 2:31 PMDC Gun Rights ExaminerMike Stollenwerk

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Open carriers (courtesy of Oleg Volk)

Many people around the world are interested in learning more about the growing open carry movement in the United States, particularly when and where they can open carry too! 

As noted by the US Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) (striking down the DC gun ban), open carry was traditionally viewed socially and legally as preferable to concealed carry throughout most of the history of the United States.  Over the last 2 decades though, public demand for the privilege to conceal carry swelled and now only 2 states, Illinois a Wisconsin, still ban concealed carry.

But even many traditional concealed carriers, though believing that concealed carry is the best for them, are finally comin' around to acknowledging that the right to open carry is a valuable complimentary option to augent their privilege to conceal carry.  Other gun owners believe open carry sometimes has the tactical advantage of deterrence, and the political upside of accelerating the "normalization of guns" in the United States, or in plain English, getting' gun carry out o' the closet.

In response to the sharp uptick in popular and media interest in the open carry movement since Federal Judge Bruce D. Black ruled earlier this week that the police are automatically liable for damages if they detain people for merely open carrying guns,  OpenCarry.org's John Pierce has been working overtime to update that online community's "Open Carry Map" with more clear state by state categories and definitions.

See John's general open carry map here and click on the new definitions, notably, the replacement of the old "anomalous open carry state" category with "Open Carry Frendly State" where "Opencarry [is] permitted by state law without license, but either lacks preemption or does not allow unlicensed open carry inside a vehicle."

For example, let's drill down and look at North Carolina, now upgraded to "Gold Star Open Carry" status: OpenCarry.org is of the view that the definitional term "generally preempted" does apply to North Carolina as the state preemption law, though weak, when read in concert with State v. Kerner, does not permit localities to ban the open carry of military (i.e., normal) sized handguns on streets, sidewalks and private businesses so basically open carriers can get around the state, even if they have to watch out for possible local open carry bans in parks, city buildings, and municipal parking lots.

Now look at Colorado a traditional open carry state, yet precluded from Gold Star status only because of an unstable 4-4 tie state supreme court decision to affirm a lower court's ruling which upheld Denver's open carry ban, but struck down Denver's concealed carry ban.

Key points everyone should know about open carry, i.e., the practice of carrying holstered unconcealed functional handguns (functionality includes being loaded):

• 42 states permit open carry in public
• 26 states require no license to open carry 
• Only 7 states ban open carry in public 
• California allows open carry in many or most parts of rural areas, but figuring out precisely where it is banned (i.e., that guns must be unloaded) is so difficult that as a practical matter, open carry is not a realistic option.

Gold Star:  Generally preempted open carry permitted on foot and in vehicles without a license; localities generally preempted.
Friendly:  Open carry permitted by state law without license, but either lacks preemption or does not allow unlicensed open carry inside a vehicle.
Licensed:  Generally preempted open carry permitted on foot and in vehicles with a license; localities generally preempted.
Non-Permissive:  Open carry highly restricted or banned.
Rural:  Open carry generally allowed in non-incorporated areas.