Gun laws

[Anthony]

I was just reading through my local (Rhode Island) gun laws, and didn't find anything on UNconcealed carrying of a handgun.  I didn't read through EVERYTHING, but I saw regulations on carrying in a car, transport, sale, storage, and concealed carry...but what about carrying it in plain sight in a holster?  What are the pros and cons of concealed/plain sight?  I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear others' first.

Frankly, I've never fired a (real) gun, but I've been thinking about taking classes and getting licenced to own on. 

[Spoonrobot]

http://www.packing.org/state/rhode_island/

This page indicates that open carry is not legal. In fact, it is legal if you hold a resident or non-resident permit issued by the Attorney General. It is unclear and maybe debatable if open carry with a town issued permit is legal. However, open carry without a permit from the AG is absolutely prohibited.

Even if you have an AG permit, be careful if you decide to open carry. Here in RI, it is not at all common. The only people you see carrying a handgun are people like security guards, police officers, and so on. Someone not in uniform carrying a visible handgun will get attention.

Open carry does have it's place but I think the day-to-day average person should really look in concealed carry instead.

[665ae]

In Michigan, open carry is "technically" legal.  The problem is many cities and townships have a law against it, so you have to be careful.  I think it's mainly "legal" for the hunters, since every year we see several hunters walking down the roads carrying firearms.

In my opinion, the biggest "con" of carrying any type of weapon is the responsibility that comes with it.  You have to know when to use it, how to use it, and be prepared for what happens if you ever have to use it. 

I normally carry concealed.  Sometimes when I'm hiking or camping, I'll open carry more as a visual deterrent to someone that may want to harm me    Plus, you never know what you'll run into out there!    I've had a couple of close ones with animals

[Viper]

Before wearing a gun in plain-view, you should read the whole thing first.

And you've never fired a gun??!! How old are you?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Lots of people have never fired guns.  For some, it's just not a priority in life.

But if you are going to start,

I've been thinking about taking classes and getting licenced to own on.

this is the right way to go about doing it.  Folks who feel they have a natural inborn talent for handling a firearm are the number one cause of greater restrictions on firearm use and ownership.

Def

[Anthony]

Before wearing a gun in plain-view, you should read the whole thing first.

And you've never fired a gun??!! How old are you?

Belive it or not, most city folk like myself have never even held a gun, let alone fire one.  And to be honest, I woulden't trust them in the same room with one. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

That's my problem with the whole RTKBA arms thing... folks think that since they have the right, then they obviously have some inborn knowledge of how to use it.  Quite frankly I think the Constitution should say that citizens have the right to learn how to fire arms.  A gun, no matter the make, no matter the carry method will do you no good, and lots of people serious harm if you don't know how to use it.

And that, faster than anything else, will result in more and more restrictive gun laws. 

Def

[I'm Still Bison]

Ohio just recently clarified it's CCW laws.Before a person could CCW,but not in a vehicle,weapons in a vehicle had to be under lock and key,that was changed to allow carrying in a vehicle without that particular proviso.
Personally,I am a 2nd Amendment supporter,and strongly at that..but one of my instructors at the Academy long ago said,and I agree with to this day,is this..If you feel the need to carry a gun,you're probably in the wrong part of town.

[Anthony]

long ago said,and I agree with to this day,is this..If you feel the need to carry a gun,you're probably in the wrong part of town.

Key words being "long ago"...None of the students at that college in VA thought they were going to come up against someone with two guns, but even if 1% of the students and professors carried a gun, maybe one could have gotten off a shot at the insane maniac.  And maybe not...but there was no chance to defend themselves.  And if it can happen there on a campus in the middle of the day, there's a good chance you could be approached while pumping gas after sundown by a toughguy with a pistol.

There's no specific "wrong part of town" anymore that you can avoid.  I don't know if there ever was total safety in the past, but as long as I've been here you always have to watch out wherever you are.  A resteraunt two streets down from my old house was "raided" I guess you'd call it by a few guys with guns.  Everyone was robbed and tossed into a freezer, and shots were fired (no one killed).  It wasn't some mafia joint either..it was a good size chinese place right on a main road.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Take it from a security speSmurfpillst- if there had been a hundred people there with CCW's, there would have been 150 deaths.  Thinking that adding guns to a crowd, especially a panicked crowd, is helping is absolutely the wrong answer.

Def

[I'm Still Bison]

  Granted,nowadays safe parts of town are hard to define,and even harder to define..thanks to home invasions. When I took my LEO training it was back in the mid 80's in Cincinnati,and Cincy had some well known parts of town best avoided by upstanding  citizens.
       I come from a time and place where every town had a heighborhood(s) that if you knew what was good for you, you'd avoid,especially after dark. The best advice in any situation,is to be aware of your surroundings,and trust your intuition;if it doesn't feel right,it probably isn't.