Posted on 08/20/2026 10:41:46 AM PDT by marktwain
The state of open carry in the United States has definitely been changing, thanks largely to the efforts of open carry activists across the country.
In 2014 there were six states where open carry was generally banned. They were California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, and New York. There were 30 other states where you could open carry without a permit. In the 14 remaining states you needed a permit to open carry, even if obtaining a permit in Hawaii and New Jersey was very, very difficult.
Much has changed in the last dozen years, and one of the best resources for keeping up on the changes is a website called Handgunlaw.us. It covers all 50 states with important details on laws and regulations, including where and where not to carry.
Texas passed open carry legislation in 2015. South Carolina allowed open carry with a permit beginning in 2021, and subsequently made open carry without a permit legal in 2024.
On the other hand, New Jersey banned open carry, even with a permit, in 2022, which follows along with this state’s other regressive gun control laws.
Connecticut banned nearly all open carry in 2023, while Florida’s attorney general declared the ban on open carry to be unconstitutional in 2025. The states where open carry was banned moved from 6 down to 4, then back to 6, and now back down to 5,with politics playing the determining role.
(Excerpt) Read more at thegunmag.com ...
What about long guns?
I choose to concealed carry because I don’t want to give a criminal tactical information that could help them plan an attack. I support open carry laws especially since it removes “printing” or accidental exposure from becoming a brandishing charge. The disadvantage of concealed carry is that it makes it harder to carry a full-sized gun. In cold weather climates I have concealed carried a 6-inch bbl 44 mag revolver and a 1911 6-inch long slide 10mm in shoulder rigs. Just making sure I could do it if I decided I really needed to. I have seen someone come into a popular burger joint in Colorado Springs that was open carrying. I spotted it right away, but he stood in line behind me, ordered, and waited for the order to be finished and I did not see anyone else who noticed.
"EEEK, A GUN!!!!"
That is a huge drawback, and forced me back to a .308 carry from my 9mm.
Should read: .380
.308 would be ridiculous....
LOL. You had me going for a minute there.... How the heck?
.308? SBR and a trench coat, easy :p
More seriously slim 9s are pretty prevalent from the now-ubiquitous Sig 365 to G48 or 43, APX carry, and others.
Climate and custom drive some choices so you don’t stand out as obvious.
That said neither am I going to trash a .380 ACP choice. You know no doubt what those can and cannot do, what your situation requires, and that unless you do find room for a 7.62x51 all handguns are just poking holes anyway.
Glad that was a misprint, I was feeling a little inadequate.
my CCW Holster of Choice fit a XD9 with light inside. It was a leather box with a magnetic flap that was carried on my belt. Ridiculously easy to draw from, with zero chance of clothes interfering.
Looked like a binocular case or a tablet case. I cannot remember the brand.
No one ever cared. Only 2 people who know me well ever asked, and the answer was baby supplies.(First set of twins was 1 year old at the time so it was plausible)
No imprinting or exposure was ever an issue, and I used this in the people’s hellscape of CA, in San Jose.
was a problem when trying to work on cars under the dash, but besides that never really got in the way surprisingly.
“Is that an AR-10 in your pants, or are you happy to see me?”
😆
When I grabbing some pizza when I was in Alaska I noticed everyone was carrying.mwhen I asked my bartender about it he said, “dude your on the menu”.
Actually you really don’t want to open carry - it’ll freak out the liberal woke folks who’ll go running around like crazy - get a CWP.
With all due respect I am more concerned about the concealed carry and the ridiculous hoops that are required in some states. Permits should not be needed to carry weapons to defend yourself.
You can open carry in MA with a permit. The cop giving my initial class laughed and said, “Don’t do it. Every Karen in the grocery store will lose their shit, and call us. It would be a colossal waste of everyone’s time. Just carry concealed.”
I just came back from the grocery store. I can just imagine the reaction of me slinging my Remington 500 to go pick up some shrimp. Ha ha.
I was thinking .308 would be great.
“.308? SBR and a trench coat, easy”
I saw a video of some black kids getting into a squabble. A bunch of them were wearing loose sweat pants, with AK’s stuffed down them. One kid pulled out two rifles from his pants. Nobody shot, so perhaps they were just proving themselves to each other, or it was just a video for showing off. But they were in what appeared to be a public event with lots of other people around.
Remington 500? Or Mossberg 870?
I want to see any and all laws passed since the 2nd Amendment was written that dictate any type of infringement whatsoever, nullified or ruled to be unconstitutional.
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