Open Carry in Mo

[Cactus Jack Arizona]

I've just heard rumor of some new law that is supposed to go into effect late this month regarding state wide open carry. I can't find anything on this issue. Does anyone know what the legislation is called, ie, letters, numbers, etc?

Thanks

 

[303tom]

We have always been able to open carry, as long as you have a Hunting License. You have to have a hunting license to carry a firearm in Missouri, pistol or long gun.

 

[hermannr]

Rami 2075: Go to OpenCarry.org, then go to the MO state subgroup. soemone there will answer (or there may already be a thread) anything about Mo law and OC. On the title page there is a group of "maps", click on the "Maps" then on the MO map, it has a summery of MO law as concerns OC.

Sounds funny that you would need a hunting license to OC though...however, I am from WA,

 

[martialartsblackbelt]

theres always been open carry. you dont need a license. ive open carried there for years.

 

[Kleanbore]

Open carry is not covered in the state preemption provision, and many counties and municipalities have outlawed open carry.

there is no easy way to find which ones have done so.

 

[bhk]

"We have always been able to open carry, as long as you have a Hunting License. You have to have a hunting license to carry a firearm in Missouri, pistol or long gun."

Wow, this is so wrong. You do NOT need to have a hunting license to open carry in Missouri. Never have.

There is no new state law about to change anything related to open carry in Missouri. Open carry is allowed by state law because it is not prohibited anywhere by state law. Local governments,though, are allowed to ban it. Confusing, yep. In general, few rural areas ban open carry. Most of rural Missouri is unincorporated, so there is no local government to ban it (I don't believe any rural counties ban open carry. I don't think even any urban counties ban it. It has been the cities and towns that have passed ordinances against it). Be aware that some pretty rural cities/towns have ordinances against it.

The end result is that if you are in a rural unincorporated area, you will be ok. If you are in a rural small town you are probably ok, but you had better check first. If you are in a suburban/urban area it is quite likely that it will be against the 'rules.' No where in Missouri is open carry very common, legal or not.

I live in a rural Missouri county that contains several small towns. Non of them ban open carry. Many, many locals have ccw permits and carry that way. I rarely see anyone open carry in town, although it is perfectly ok to do so. Wouldn't bother me. Lots of folks carry openly when afield.

 

[303tom]

I don`t know where some of you guys are from, but here in rural Missouri where I live, and I have seen it, if you are stopped by a conservation agent & you are carrying a firearm you are going to get a ticket for hunting without a license if you don`t have a hunting license.So why not just get one, I have goten a hunting & fishing license every year sense I was 16.

 

[The Bushmaster]

303tom...Guess what...You are incorrect. You do not have to have a hunting license to open carry a handgun in most rural areas. I carry daily. The sheriff and the state police have observed me and I have not been bothered by any of them. The Sheriff of Douglas county says that it's not against any city ordance to carry in Ava, but requests that we not because he gets tired going to Wally World to answer a report of a "man with a gun". And we comply with his request. I also have a CCW permit.

 

[303tom]

303tom...Guess what...You are incorrect. You do not have to have a hunting license to open carry a handgun in most rural areas. I carry daily. The sheriff and the state police have observed me and I have not been bothered by any of them. The Sheriff of Douglas county says that it's not against any city ordance to carry in Ava, but requests that we not because he gets tired going to Wally World to answer a report of a "man with a gun". And we comply with his request. I also have a CCW permit.

I never said anything about the Sheriff, or State or local LEO`s now did I ? I said if a (conservation agent) you will get a ticket, I have seen it happen !!!!

 

[bhk]

As stated above, I am also from Missouri. I can see a conservation agent giving someone a tough time for carrying a long gun in the field if it appeared they were actually hunting. I doubt MOST agents would give you a ticket without some outward appearance of you actually hunting. A judgement call on part of the agent, I guess. Lots of guys go to the woods to just plink -- no licence required! I bet no one has ever been given a ticket for carrying a handgun afield. If you received a ticket for carrying a gun afield and were not hunting, you could certainly win in court. No contest.

Nothing in Missouri's conservation code requires a hunting license to possess a firearm in the field. I do agree with you, though, on how possessing a hunting license when carrying a long gun afield can go a long weigh in avoiding any confusion. The most common reason for carrying a long gun afield in Missouri is for hunting and an agent would feel obligated to question you, especially if you are coming out of the woods on a public hunting area carrying a rifle. I have a lifetime hunting/fishing permit, but then I am almost always hunting something when afield even if it is secondary to my real purpose for being there. I may walk on my property latter today mostly to check on my prairie plantings and may take a rifle. Who knows, I may bump into a coyote or a pond dam destroying groundhog. Yep, thats hunting. CCW type handguns though, I certainly wouldn't worry about a hunting license.

 

[Cactus Jack Arizona]

Well, I was at the gun range at Bass Pro last night and some of the guys were talking about this new open carry law that was supposed to be a state wide law that was to trump all municipality regs regarding open carry.

I do know that in the city I live in, it is perfectly legal to open carry. However, due to the scaredy-cat anti-gun weenies one can expect local law enforcement to rush by to give you a ticket for disturbing the peace. I shall check out opencarry.org.

Thanks.

 

[wow6599]

A few folks have already stated the truth -

You can OC in Missouri, but local laws trump the right to OC by Missouri. Some municipalities will let you, some won't and some will allow it, but only if you have a CCL.
Hunting licenses have nothing to do with it - unless you are walking through the woods during deer season with a .30-'06 and playing stupid.

There used to be a list of cities over in the Missouri section of OC.org.

 

[Sharecropper]

I think that it was fall 1976 or 1977. I had just bought a twelve-gauge shotgun down in Sikeston, Missouri. (I grew up around there.) I wanted to try it out, so I stopped on a gravel road (really more of a sand road) deep in southeast Missouri, near the little town of Morley. I set up a couple of cans and fired into them. I think that I shot four or five shots altogether. (I was poor and cheap. Now I'm not so poor, but I'm still cheap. If you grow up poor, it kind of sticks . . .)

As I was standing there, a car came screaming up. A fish and game agent piled out with his hand on his service weapon. I pointed the gun at the ground next to my car and shucked out the remaining cartridges and set the gun by the car to let him know that I wasn't dangerous.

He came up and explained that he thought that I was hunting. It was about three days before dove season opened.

He poked around in my car. I was into aquariums at the town and had a paper bag full of aquarium gravel sitting behind the front seat. The fish and wildlife guy wanted to look into that, too.

I'm 53 now. I was 19 or 20 then. That's the only time in my life I've been concerned about someone carrying a gun. And the guy who had me concerned was a law enforcement officer.

My girlfriend was with me during this incident. I've always been glad she was. The fish-and-wildlife agent acted like I was a bad guy. I was valedictorian of my high school graduating class in 1975, and I had been on the dean's list at Southeast Missouri State University every semester that I was there. But I had a gun in my hand . . .

Anyway, I've lived in the northwest since 1987, so I don't know a darned thing about Missouri law now.

I take the boys in blue--or green--very seriously.

 

[The Bushmaster]

wow6599...www.missouricarry.com has a list of open carry towns and cities in Missouri that is kept up dated.

 

[bhk]

Again, there is not any change to Missouri's state laws concerning open carry. The guys at Bass Pro were flat out wrong. Wonder who started that rumor. It could get somebody arrested.