Article on Open Carry in Pennsylvania

At Lancaster Online:

Surprise. In Pennsylvania and 43 other states, any law-abiding resident 18 and older can carry a loaded handgun on his hip in plain view to shopping malls, restaurants and on strolls down the street. No permits required, no questions asked. You thought you needed a permit for that? Nope, only if you conceal the gun.

I’ve never seen anyone open carrying in this area. I’ve seen it a few times in other parts of the state, but it’s not common. This surprised me: “He’s never been stopped and questioned by a cop.” I would imagine this means he’s never tried to open carry in Philadelphia, where I’m pretty sure the police would have a lot of questions.

I do not open carry in populated areas, only while hiking, but I support everyone’s right to do it. I am somewhat skeptical of this though:

The group sells a t-shirt that says, “Oops, my civil rights are showing.” Seeing people carrying guns in a nonconfrontational way gets people to recognize the practice as legal and encourages them “to think about the liberty and foundation aspects of our country,” Pierce says.

I think most people either a) don’t notice, or b) assume the person is a police officer. I’m not sure that people open carrying is really going to do much to make the public think about liberty and our country.

2 thoughts on “Article on Open Carry in Pennsylvania”

  1. I’ve seen it, but it’s certainly not common in PA. Obviously, it has a following, though. I carry concealed, but if I felt like carrying open sometimes, I wouldn’t bother in Philadelphia. I don’t need the hassle and I’m generally on a schedule when I’m there, so again – don’t have time for the crap.

  2. Before I got into the gun issue, I always assumed anyone with a gun on their hip was law enforcement. In fact, even though I should know better today, that’s still my first assumption. It’s never bothered me though.

Comments are closed.