open carry

Definition of open carry

: the act or practice of carrying a firearm openly in public or the legal right to do so In Pennsylvania, open carry is generally allowed without a license, but Philadelphia does require a license.— Joshua Gillin The next frontier for gun-rights advocates is "open carry," epitomized last year by protests in which permitted gun owners carried firearms in plain view at Starbucks coffee shops.— Patrik Jonsson Three more states ban concealed carry but not open carry.— Hank Johnson and Mitch Seabaugh —often used before another nounopen carry laws/legislation — compare concealed carry

Examples of open carry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The guidance to clerks did not cite any specific portion of Michigan law or any state rule that gives the secretary of state the authority to ban the open carry of firearms. — Dave Boucher, USA TODAY, "Michigan to ban open carry of guns at polling places, other spots on Election Day," 17 Oct. 2020 The guidance to clerks did not cite any specific portion of Michigan law or any state rule that gives the secretary of state the authority to ban the open carry of firearms. — Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan to ban open carry of guns at polling places, other spots on Election Day," 16 Oct. 2020 On Friday morning, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced the order prohibiting the open carry of firearms inside polling places or within 100 feet of entrances. — Spencer Neale, Washington Examiner, "Michigan secretary of state bans open carry of firearms at polling places," 16 Oct. 2020 Michigan on Friday prohibited the open carry of firearms in and near polling places on Election Day amid fears of voter intimidation. — NBC News, "Michigan bans open carry of guns near polling places on Election Day," 16 Oct. 2020 People may currently bring open carry firearms on Capitol grounds and inside the Capitol, Lt. Brian Oleksyk of the Michigan State Police told the Free Press in April. — Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan lawmakers introduce bills to ban guns at state Capitol," 29 Sep. 2020 Edwards noted that also ripe for consideration by the Supreme Court is the federal ban on online and mail order ammo sales and the Young case out of Hawaii that deals with open carry. — Kerry Picket, Washington Examiner, "Second Amendment cases likely to come up after SCOTUS seat confirmation," 22 Sep. 2020 As for the allegation that one of the suspects held a gun while outside the residence, Bates remarked that North Carolina, where the suspects are from, is an open carry state. — Mary Grace Keller, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Two North Carolina men arrested in Finksburg attempted home invasion," 21 Sep. 2020 Again, the existence of laws that allow open carry is distorting ordinary logic. — Noah Feldman Bloomberg Opinion (tns), Star Tribune, "How guns twist the logic of self-defense laws," 11 Sep. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'open carry.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.