True Story of Open Carry in Ohio

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evan price

evan price

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Well, after reading all the open carry stories on THR I decided to perform an experiment of my own. I live in Ohio, outside the Columbus area but close enough that I go to Columbus a lot.

Since my IWB holster which was quite old took a dump and the local shop is out of stock in the holster I decided to replace it with and it is on back order, I do not have a "concealed" holster for my Sig P239 temporarily. It was warm and I decided to forego wearing a jacket or shirt untucked over the Sig.

I have several days off for the 4th of July Holiday. I spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and until 6pm Sunday open carrying absolutely everywhere. I am a 6' tall 240 lb guy in decent shape and I wore jeans, work boots, a sturdy belt, and a Walt Disney World Tee Shirt tucked into my jeans, with the Sig P239 9mm open carried in a Fobus Kytex paddleback holster at 3-4'oclock.

Went to the mall and got new eyeglasses. Went to a barber shop for a haircut. Went to a couple car dealers, a couple auto parts stores, a scrap metal dealer. Went to Dayton & went to a couple specialty stores there. Bought gas at least 4 times & paid inside each time. Went to the gun range. Went to the Arena district and OSU campus area. Went to two gun stores. Went to two grocery stores. Went to the hardware store. Went to get the propane tank for the grille refilled. Visited a friend. Went to visit the inlaws over by Indianna. Went out to eat at least 6 times at various diners or fast food or restaurants, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Picked up pizza one night. I drove at least 1000 miles in the past three days open carrying all the time. I made darn double sure that anywhere I went was not posted. Other than that I just acted normally.

Heard one crack from a guy servicing a vending machine who ased, "Whatcha got there, a water pistol?"
Heard one person whispering to her companion, "Do you think that is real?" on an elevator.
Had one person ask me if I was a cop at the scrap metal dealer (an employee)- I answered, "Nope!"
In honesty, I think he was smoking a joint at the time because he hurriedly threw his hand-rolled cigarette into a bucket when he saw me.

Did get a few "looks" from other people but that was it.

Nobody screamed. Nobody frantically dialed a cell phone. No hordes of cops every step I took. Actually it was kind of underwhelming.

I actually had more attention paid to me at the gun stores than anywhere else. Nothing bad, just got "noticed" by people and employees at the gun stores- they looked me over, made eye contact, and went about their business, whereas general public kinda zoned out and ignored me completely.

So that's my 72+ hour open carry experiment. It almost felt like streaking at first then by and large I sort of just forgot about being self conscious about it.
I open carry on my property normally with this same setup and let me say it is great for deterring trespassers up my dead end private driveway.
 
In Virgnia the Shall Issue law prohibited carry in places with an "on premises" license -- which included restaurants that served drinks. But the open carry law (which was much older) had no such prohibition. So when taking the family to a restaurant, we got into the habit of simply taking off the cover garment and wearing the gun openly.

A friend of mine, who lived in the whacky part of the state (near Washington, DC) did that and was sitting with his back to a window. He saw the reflection of a woman who walked by, did a double-take and ran off. She came back with a cop. My friend watched as she pointed frantically at him, and the cop looked, shrugged, and walked off.

Yeah! Freedom is great!

Let's have some more!
 
I'll watch this thread hoping someone can confirm one way or the other the real facts on open carry in Ohio, BUT as I understand it when Ohio passed it's CC law it did away with any provisions for legal open carry in public. You do have a CCP valid in Ohio? I'd say this wasn't freedom just dumb luck. You "may" have been one busy body away from the worst day of your life.
 
I am glad that this "test" worked out for you. I, on the other hand, dont want to risk getting into a sticky situation, nor do I want the extra attention. It is amazing that guns are automatically associated with criminals.
 
I've spent the last two hours reading ORC 2923. The only places listed where open carry appears to be legal is in your own home or business. Without a valid carry permit you were open to arrest anywhere else you went, concealed or open carried. Ohio does require open carry while in a car/motorcycle with a carry permit but I could find nothing that allows open carry beyond that. I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV but I would not try this again without talking to a very good lawyer first and keeping his number handy.
 
Wait till you run into a cop that doesn't know law. I was at my local range shooting IDPA this AM. One of the particpants is a local cop and, according to him, a firearm instructor at the academy. He told me that I cannot open carry in GA! The law clearly states that I can!:fire:
 
It is amazing that guns are automatically associated with criminals.
Click to expand...

Yes. And one of the reasons is that most law abiding citizens who carry always do so concealed.

mcg-doc, your experience with the officer is not unusual at all. In the MCG ED, I had a MCG police officer tell me that the law stated a certain thing. I demurred and asked to see the Georgia Code book he was studying. Flipped to the index and then to the page indicated. Showed him in black and white where he was in error. And it wasn't a law recently changed by the legislature. The date of the statute in the code book was 1908.
 
Hmmm....If you HAVE to open carry in a car, then why the heck would it be illegal to carry open in public (assuming you have a CCP)? I seem to remember that there was some confusion after the CC law was passed, but it was later clarified that open carry was still permissable if you had a CC license. Prior to the passing of the CC law, it was (hypothetically) legal to open carry in Columbus.
I would guess that most people would assume you were a cop of some sort. You could always tell them you were with Homeland Insecurity. Interesting experiment -thanks for sharing.
 
Wait, didn't carrying a gun (especially openly) want you to get into a shootout for a parking space?:neener:
 
Strangely enough, I did NOT feel the need to wave my Sig around, point it at people I impulsively felt personally disrespected by, use it to gain the parking space of my choosing, or jump ahead in the checkout lines.

Odd that, hmm? :confused:

Oh and, would you believe: There was not a sudden outbreak of crime in the presence of the gun. It did not appear to affect the local crime rate any little bit by being "on the street". It did not inspire anyone to violence that I saw.

And wonder of wonders, I never felt the need to get into a "Wild West" style shootout either.

Nor did my Sig crawl out of its holster on its own and cause any mischief.

I guess all that propaganda might be.. dare I say this publicly..the propaganda might be wrong? :eek:

Bear in mind though, this particular firearm has been owned by me for some time, was docile, and was used to accompanying me in a concealed fashion and obeying my commands. Perhaps a newer, more fractious gun could have caused problems if not properly holster-broken yet in public.

Although, being NOT a native of California, NONE of my guns are Neutered.
 
Having a concealed handgun license in Ohio does not prohibit any licensee from carrying the handgun openly.
 
But is it still legal to open carry if you don't have a permit?
 
That's what Axe Body Spray is for... like a "Shower in a Can" (R)!

JK, I own many WDW Tee Shirts.

Contrast my experiences with that of Dan Sayers up in Oregon OH (Read about it on Ohio CCW forums) Yep, I got lucky I suppose but CCW & Open Carry is legal (if not prudent) Notwithstanding my "luck" I will probably not be inclined to repeat this experiment.

No it wasn't a "stunt" and I really did not want to get tossed. But I believed that to prove a point and express my rights I would risk the misguided masses and behave responsibly, safely, and with respect to all. And walk/drive proudly about my state of residence.
While open carrying a pistol.
 
Evan,

I'm wondering if we changed something a bit. What if you were open carrying in something like pleated khaki's and a nice polo shirt? Or what if you were open carrying with dress slacks, dress shirt and a tie on?
 
That's quite amazing. I too am an Ohio resident but I don't think I'd carry openly around the city (Dayton). It just seems too likely that many poeple would panic and call the police, unless they assumed I was the police, but I don't look the part. Any chance people just assumed you were a cop?

Good job though. It's gonna take many more people like you too convince the sheeple that guns in public places does not equal criminal.
 
edmund said:
Evan,

I'm wondering if we changed something a bit. What if you were open carrying in something like pleated khaki's and a nice polo shirt? Or what if you were open carrying with dress slacks, dress shirt and a tie on?
Click to expand...

Yeah, do cops get that "Hey is that real" line all the time?

-James
 
Went to a barber shop for a haircut
Click to expand...
I was on my way into the barber shop myself this weekend while open carrying, and then realized that as soon as they draped that cover over me I'd be concealed, even though not through my own action... just something to keep in mind if you don't have your CHP and are taking advantage of OC.
 
Yeah, do cops get that "Hey is that real" line all the time?
Click to expand...

I was taking graduate courses from Georgia State University when I was stationed at Fort Benning. One night I was slated as Officer of the Day. I informed the Field Officer of the Day I was going to class just down the hall, and he said Okay.

I walked into the class in full uniform, OD brassard on my arm and .45 on my hip. The instructor almost fainted. "Is that gun loaded?!?!"

"Doctor Smith, only a fool would carry an empty gun."
 
I was under the impression that carrying, concealed or otherwise, on school campuses was a non-no....???


***except LEO...
 
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Evan I am glad things went so well. Most people are so completely in their own little worlds they hardly ever notice someone carrying openly.
 
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