London Telegraph story on the open carry movement

[Mike]

BTW - John Pierce had an interview with this reporter today for an hour while working in Allentown, PA - and open carrying at that time!

John is in Allentown all week OCing about town in case anybody want to say hello - jpierce@speedscape.com.

--

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...in-public.html

American gun owners call for cowboy holsters to be worn in public
Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 12:52AM BST 10/06/2008

A growing number of Americans are exercising their right not just to own guns but to carry them around in public.


As a debate continues in Washington over the constitutional right to gun ownership, supporters of the so-called "open carry" movement argue that sidearms should be precisely that - a common accessory to be worn freely.

Their right to wear their gun, usually on a holster at their hip, as they go about their day is protected in state laws that override any constitutional ruling in the US capital, they claim.

The founders of OpenCarry, an internet-based organisation that offers advice on gun carrying, say they now have 5,000 members.

They regularly get together for social events, such as pistol-packing picnics, as well as helping each other with legal advice.

Their website, whose motto is "A right unexercised is a right lost", offers guidance on where it is legal to wear a gun openly.

It includes state-by-state advice on the rules covering restaurants, travelling and - most controversially given the Virginia Tech massacre and other shootings - colleges.

John Pierce, the co-founder of OpenCarry, said yesterday that they were trying to remind Americans of their rights.

Mr Pierce, a computer consultant from Virginia, told The Daily Telegraph he wears his Glock 9mm semi-automatic on a side holster every day, including in the office and when he takes his children to the playground.

Often, people didn't even notice it, he said. "People are carrying pagers, BlackBerrys, cellphones, They see a black lump on your belt and their eyes slide off."

He said that while many US states had in recent years allowed people to carry concealed guns, owners tended not to realise that they were also entitled to bear them openly.

Although confrontations with police are common, such incidents had declined as law enforcement agencies became aware that it was not against the law, he said.

Many of his own members were police officers, he added. "We're not part of real crime, we're law-abiding citizens. It's simply a visible aspect of a civil right."

Gun control groups say at least eight states largely ban public gun carrying, including Iowa and New Jersey.

Other states have specific restrictions. Utah, for example, allows the practice so long as the gun is two mechanical steps from firing, such as being uncocked and having no bullet in the chamber.

[pex]

Originally Posted by Mike

John is in Allentown all week OCing about town in case anybody want to say hello - jpierce@speedscape.com.

The police might want to say hello...I just read in another thread (that I cannot find) about a 1962 ordinance against carrying firearms in Allentown...

=D

See:
http://www.allentownpa.gov/Governmen...4/Default.aspx
Specifically Part 7, Item 5...

ARTICLE 734
WEAPONS
734.01 No Carrying or Discharging of Firearms or Weapons
734.02 Exceptions
734.03 Police Action Against Violators
734.99 Penalty
Discharge of Weapons – 3rd Class §2403 (26) (53 P.S. §2403 926)
Uniform Firearms Act – 18 P.S. §6101 et seq.
734.01 NO CARRYING OR DISCHARGING OF FIREARMS OR WEAPONS
No person shall use, carry or discharge firearms of any kind, air rifles, spring guns, bows and arrows, slings or any other forms of weapons potentially inimical to wildlife and dangerous to human safety within the limits of the City or upon any property owned by the City. (9828 §1 6/19/62)
734.02 EXCEPTIONS
This regulation shall not apply to the use of the within-mentioned weapons at indoor or outdoor ranges approved by the Chief of Police or to licensed hunters carrying such weapons upon leaving or returning to the City from unlawful hunting beyond the City limits. (9828 §2 6/19/62)
734.03 POLICE ACTION AGAINST VIOLATORS
The Chief of Police shall have the right to seize, take, possess, remove or destroy any weapons herein mentioned involved in a violation of the provisions of this article. (9828 §3 6/19/62)
734.99 PENALTY
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be fined not more than One Thousand ($1,000) Dollars or imprisoned more than ninety (90) days, or both. (11995 §1 2/21/73; 13034 §5 3/6/91)

[MrUgly]

Originally Posted by pex

See:
http://www.allentownpa.gov/Governmen...4/Default.aspx
Specifically Part 7, Item 5...

Meh. Ordinance is Unconstitutional and in Violation of the UFA. Looking at it, that was enacted in the 60's, while the UFa was passed in 1994. Pretty sure it was superseded and never removed.

PennsyPlinker may have something to say about it.

[pex]

Originally Posted by MrUgly

Meh. Ordinance is Unconstitutional and in Violation of the UFA. Looking at it, that was enacted in the 60's, while the UFa was passed in 1994. Pretty sure it was superseded and never removed.

PennsyPlinker may have something to say about it.

Someone needs to explain how laws work as they affect other laws, on the basis of their time of passage. I see a lot of talk about preemption not being able to touch the laws previous to its passing (mid-1970s). Maybe that is just for records, but that is not how I've seen it approached elsewhere on the board.

[MikeB0]

Originally Posted by pex

Someone needs to explain how laws work as they affect other laws, on the basis of their time of passage. I see a lot of talk about preemption not being able to touch the laws previous to its passing (mid-1970s). Maybe that is just for records, but that is not how I've seen it approached elsewhere on the board.

It would depend on the wording of the particular law and court challenges to it. As for the UFA, it voided any local laws concerning the carrying, transfer, or possession of firearms enacted prior to it's enactment and prevents any local law from being enforced that are enacted after it's enactment. It should and in my opinion also prevents the enactment of local laws, but so far it seems as though local laws can be enacted, they will just loose the case in court later.

[Koli01]

734.02 EXCEPTIONS
This regulation shall not apply to the use of the within-mentioned weapons at indoor or outdoor ranges approved by the Chief of Police or to licensed hunters carrying such weapons upon leaving or returning to the City from unlawful hunting beyond the City limits. (9828 §2 6/19/62)


I see that if you are licensed but still poaching it is ok to carry your firearm so long as you are poaching outside the City.

[MikeB0]

Originally Posted by Koli01

734.02 EXCEPTIONS
This regulation shall not apply to the use of the within-mentioned weapons at indoor or outdoor ranges approved by the Chief of Police or to licensed hunters carrying such weapons upon leaving or returning to the City from unlawful hunting beyond the City limits. (9828 §2 6/19/62)


I see that if you are licensed but still poaching it is ok to carry your firearm so long as you are poaching outside the City.

LOL, I suppose that exception also means that anyone lawfully hunting instead of poaching would not be ok.