need some open carry advice

http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/184821971.html
please take a few mins to read this article. my state allows for open carry except in the designated no-no areas. My city council has taken its own initiative to designate its own no-no areas. In this article the police chief responded to this question, How police would respond if someone was walking around a park with a rifle, which is legal under state and federal law?
This was his response, "officers would contact to the person, at gunpoint, and ask him or her to secure the firearm. He didn’t say what would happen if the person refused."
So this has me sitting here wanting to go exercise my rights and sling one over my back and maybe a sidearm in a leg rig and stroll down the beach. I'm not looking to start any trouble, just feel like this is very wrong. Looking for any advice for any people with experience with a situation like this or any leo's thoughts. Please keep politics out of this, I dont want this thread locked. Just feel like I should exercise my right to open carry, but don't want this to go down badly.

 

Sounds like you are looking for a confrontation.

Open carry is legal in PA too, but why would I want the attention? Just because I can cause a ruckus?

 

its not about attention, its about rights. My state says i have the right to carry on the beach, the city is trying to say I cant.

Thank you, this is the kind of info I was looking for.

 

Yea. A lot of states do have an open carry law. I'm with john though. Why would you want the attention, when you can get a CCW? You could argue both ways that it would deter criminals or provoke them. A lot will depend on the area you are at also. Take AZ for instance, it's the closest you can get to the Wild West still. Lots of open carry there and the police don't think twice about you walking around with a gun.
If you know your local law enforcement is going to give you a hard time I say don't bother with it. Causing trouble for yourself really. You can argue the other way too. I will chock it up to the location on whether I would open carry or not.

 

I have a cwp and carry concealed. I am trying to figure out a way to get this city ordnance squashed. I'm really just thinking out loud to you guys just trying to find the best way to approach it.

 

Exercising your open carry right as you say? Sounds like initiating a confrontation and creating a scene to me. Just because it is 'legal' doesn't mean it is a good idea. Cops are wickedly on edge these days. There is no reason to open carry unless you are just being cocky, or on your way out hunting. IMO.

 

why would anybody want to walk around in public with a long gun...

 

Yea i hear ya. I would contact your state pro guns committee, NRA, congress, or make a motion at the local council. See if you can get any support from other local gun enthusiasts who want their rights.

 

So I need a little bit more clarification on this...

Is your open carry-law like CA's former open carry-law? Where you can (were) allowed to open carry a pistol on your person, as long as there was no ammunition in the gun?

If this is the case, then I have to agree with JDMCQ on this, especially if you have a CWP, where you can legally carry concealed, the ONLY possible reason for you to "exercise your right", is for you to break a law that you disagree with and hope that it changes the law. You're trying to make a political statement without considering the ramifications of personally breaking the law.

The appropriate way to fight this law, that you (and I) believe are not constitutional, is to contact a gun-rights advocacy group in your area and sue the city for infringing on your rights. If you go and break the law, that you know exists, it's going to do nothing but cloud your credibility. Especially when they consider you have a CWP.

Have you thought about the possibility that by breaking this law, they may charge you with a crime that voids your CWP?

Is it worth it?

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with this law. I don't like any new gun regulation. However, at the same time, "Open-Carry" is pointless to me. I am a believer in private citizens having concealed carry licenses, but what is the point of walking around showing off an unloaded gun on your person? First and foremost, it does not make you "more prepared" to handle a threat. It makes you the first target (IMO). I also don't think that it promotes sensible gun laws.

I remember a few years back, in the SF Bay Area, and throughout the state of CA, a huge number of "open-carry" advocates began meeting up every weekend, open-carrying their unloaded pistols and going and sitting in groups at Starbucks. This was when open-carry was absolutely legal. It was a half-assed attempt to try to show legislators that private citizens can carry guns without going on rampages, somewhat in an effort to make concealed carry more easily attainable.

This attempt at political change, by sitting in groups, at Starbucks' locations in generally affluent, suburban areas, with unloaded handguns, backfired. It's now illegal to open-carry an unloaded pistol in the state of CA. To my knowledge, there was not a single incidence of violence, or accidental discharge, nor was there any instance that the open-carry laws made people safer. Yet, now it's illegal in CA, because it made certain legislators (and their constituents), in fact feel less safe...

 

^ thanks for your time it took for you to write that. There is a lot of great points i had not considered. I will try to find the right people to contact about this. This was my half assed attempt to think before i spoke. I appreciate everyones feedback!

 

And some eye candy, cleaning up after playtime this am. Imo lwrc bcg's are damn sexy.

 

Amen .....

Besides that.... Carrying Openly is only asking for a lot more trouble than you want/planned on. People will get nervous - and they have every right to be nervous. They don't know you.... Other people will freak out and you could end up with a complaint or charges slapped on you for simply 'disturbing the peace' (coming from a freaked out Mom with her two children).

For the OP
You'll definitely get the cops attention when/if you walk around a park with a gun...

Have at it..... If you feel you can go HEAD to HEAD with the law. You'll wished you kept your guns at home.

 

You will get better and more accurate help at www.opencarry.org

 

+1

California had a very active and vocal open carry activist organization.
They ignored the please of those who knew what the fuck they were doing to stand down, and they insisted on "exercising their right" and it got us a ban of OC on handguns.
They then, again, against advice, insisted on carrying their ARs in public and recording the confrontations.

We now can not legally open carry ANYTHING in California outside of an area where shooting is legal.

This all happened over the course of 2 years.



Q - How does a California gun owner shoot himself in the foot with an unloaded gun?
A - Open Carry


So go ahead... exercise your right and record your confrontations with the cops and post it on Youtube.
The foot you will be shooting is attached to your own leg.

 

x2. You're just looking for a fight and you deserve any and all consequences that come of your actions in my opinion. It's perfectly legal for me to stroll into the supermarket with my shotgun slung over my shoulder but I know damned well the cops will be called and there will be an unpleasant confrontation with them when they arrive. I get what you're trying to fight against but you're going about it in a horrible way. As mentioned above, get involved in the groups that will fight that type of legislation, don't try to pick a fight.

 

What does that mean - ask him or her to secure the firearm?

 

It means he would be proned out after being told to drop his gun (and drop meaning DROP, not "gently place down")
He will be put in cuffs while one of the officers confirms that his gun is not loaded.

 

X a million.
With a screen name like yours and a question like yours, you are clearly looking for a confrontation.
I, and other responsible gun owners don't need your kind throwing gas on an already volatile gun ownership issue.
Stay the fuck at home and play COD and you might have the opportunity to keep said weapon, instead of becoming the latest example of why gun ownership/open carry needs to be more highly legislated.
All you need is a felony brandishing on your record...which might not be a bad idea.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Agreed 100%.