The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a restrictive gun control law. They should make a decision this summer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/op...endment&st=nyt

As for carrying a gun openly, but unloaded, I was not aware of the legal aspects.

I'm all for the 2nd Amendment, but unless you're an on-duty cop or FBI agent, open (un-concealed) carry is VERY tacky, and looks very retarded.
I have no problem with cops harassing these open-carry guys, because I seriously doubt these guys are showing off their guns for "constitutional" purposes. They're just looking to show off, plain and simple. "OOOh, look at me, I'm a cowboy, I've got a big bad gun in my cowboy holster, look at me everyone!" What a bunch of losers. I would never EVER carry any of my pistols like that.

I'm not so concerned about looking tacky or retarded, but I am concerned about getting shot by a LEO.

I agree.....probably trying to compensate for the shortness of the gun barrel in the other holster

Geez...Could you imagine a trip to the bank? I would think the possibility of being drawn down on by police would make this practice more dangerous than being mugged by a long shot.

Isn't the object here to increase your safety?

That said, I'd sure like the right as a stable law abiding citizen with a history of community service to carry a concealed weapon on some occasions for protection.

Wow, it's weird, based on our previous conversations you all know I'm for stricter gun control laws.

But I don't agree with you on this one, or the law.

Here is what I think,
1) If you are allowed to open carry, I think you should be allowed to open carry and be loaded. -

2) I am for open carry laws. - Let's just say for example, there is a disaster, a hurricane, an earthquake, etc. A situation where there is some serious degree of law-less-ness. I think you should be able to open carry a loaded gun without the fear of going to jail for possession of a weapon. Even if you don't have a CCW permit.
- Also, what about people who work in industries where they have to carry a lot of valuable's on them, cash, jewels, etc.

There are also times that as a photographer, I am taking pictures in areas that are packed with very serious and disturbed drug addicts and persons who should be institutionalized for psychological disorders. They harass, attack, spit, at people downtown all the time. I have been attacked a couple of times. If I were allowed to open carry legally, and if it were ok with the models, assistants, stylists, I was working with, - I would open carry on certain shoots.

I think open carry is the best deterrent there is.

Of course with any law, some people are destined to take it to far, Dirty Harry style. But I don't see the reason why it's better for society to have the weapons concealed. - I think if you have proper training, go through lots of tests and clear strict channels, you should be allowed to do both.

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

If I lived somewhere where open carry was allowed, I still would not do it. If you are in some sort of bad situation (middle of a bank robbery, etc), having the gun exposed makes you lose all tactical advantage. You will either be disarmed or shot immediately. At least if your gun is hidden, you can choose to do something (or not) at a time that suits you.

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I have been aware that California Penal Code section 12031 requires that a gun be loaded to be illegal so I would tend to agree that unloaded open carry is legal. (But you've got to read 12025 with it and it doesn't matter if the gun is unloaded if it's concealed or in your vehicle.) Carrying openly, whether loaded or unloaded, is a bad idea. I agree with statdoc. It's invites more problems than it deters. If you go to a state like AZ where open carry is legal and CCW's are relatively easy to get, still no one carries openly. Maybe they're carrying concealed but the point still is that they don't carry openly.

Carrying a unloaded firearm openly in California is just asking for trouble from a variety of sources. First off, you'd better be prepared to be proned out on the pavement, detained, and maybe even arrested until it's all sorted out many hours or even days later. During this process of being proned out you will be at gunpoint and there is always the risk of being shot due to a cop reacting to a furtive movement by you or simply by accident/negligence. If you walk into a bank, expect people to run screaming and the police to descend upon you. Walk into a post office and you could face federal charges.

In any event, why the hell would anyone feel they need to carry an unloaded gun, concealed or open? Being unloaded makes it about as useful as carrying a hammer; perhaps even less useful. If the idea is to carry it with the magazine out but the magazine is loaded up and one would just insert and rack the slide if a threat arose, there are two issues: Once that is done, your committing a crime and even if it's in the course of self-defense, you create a major issue for yourself. Second, I can't remember for sure but a loaded magazine out of the pistol but within close proximity to the pistol is constructively loaded for the purposes of the Penal Code.

I probably won't read the thread you linked because most of those people are probably complete morons like the guy in a firearms class I attended years ago who asked "if I see someone coming towards me and I think he's going to do something to me, can I shoot him?". Frightening.

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The CA story is quite similar to something that happened here in TN:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/se...eives-apology/


My AH owns CCA, and Trevor is his #2 guy. I have very mixed opinions on the entire issue. While open carry is perfectly legal here in TN, I think there is a time and a place - and I don't think Wal-mart, however freakish some of its patrons may be, really qualifies. It's perfectly decent to carry and conceal - you're protected if the poo hits the fan in the home & garden section, and you're not being a brash git.

To me, it's just another case of "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."