From the WSJ:
Advocates of "open carry" laws have been pushing for several years to make it legal for gun owners to display their handguns in public places, arguing the practice would increase public safety and is protected under the Second Amendment.
Their campaign has had mixed results. Florida last year enacted a law allowing people to "briefly and openly" display firearms, provided they don't do so in "an angry or threatening manner." That law loosened how people can handle guns in public but is considered too restrictive by most open-carry proponents.
California last year banned the open carry of firearms, as have Illinois and Texas.
Fourteen states have laws allowing handgun owners to openly display their weapons. Advocates say the practice is legal in 29 states that are silent on the issue, according to OpenCarry.org, a gun-rights organization. "Just because it is not in vogue to openly carry doesn't mean that it is improper or illegal," said Dave Workman, editor of TheGunMag.com. . . .
In Michigan, one can openly carry a firearm in public, but most Michiganders do not even know this. I have had more than one instance where I pointed this fact out, only to be told I was wrong. One individual, in an attempt to prove I wrong, was quite astonished to find that I was correct. Also, if one is on their own private property, one can carry concealed.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as if the State does not wish to make this knowledge public...