# Lifestyles & Discussion > Personal Security & Defense >  Open Carry of Rifles?

## crushingstep7

Does anyone know of a way I could figure out for sure if I can open carry a rifle in NY State?

I'm not going to call a Local PD; whether or not it's legal, they'll just lie to me, I'm sure...

If it is legal, one of these days! It'd be so sweet.  People HATE guns in New York.

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## Toureg89

i'll see if i can look up something. but i would advise against doing something that could be legal but LE will stick you with bogus charges to make it illegal. 

they could arrest you for disturbing the peace or other BS. 

so, unless you have an expensive attorney on retainer, i wouldn't do it.

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## KCIndy

I admire your motivation, but if I were you I would be **extremely** cautious when approaching this.  There are literally tens of thousands of firearms regulations on the books.  *Keep in mind that very often, the very police officers who are likely to arrest you aren't familiar with all the firearms laws.*

What area are you talking about?  Rural area upstate?  Larger town upstate, say Albany?  New York City?  Keep in mind that with every level of added government, state, county and municipal, you will be dealing with a separate set of laws.

If you want to make absolutely sure you're in the clear, you might want to find an attorney who is knowledgeable with firearms regulations_ in the area you're planning on carrying_, then make sure you have printed documentation of the law that allows you to do what you're planning on doing.

Good luck.  Keep us posted on what happens!

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## Toureg89

Firearms may be openly carried in cars only with a permit/license.
http://opencarry.org/ny.html

i looked for about 20 minutes under this, and could not find where it says OC in a car is legal, so beware:
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LA...9+&TARGET=VIEW

^fail, i pulled up gun laws for NYC...

lol, if you want to give a specific location, i might be able to pull up something else.

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## crushingstep7

I'm not talking about NYC - I wouldn't even ask if that were the case lol
I'm in Rochester, NY in the County of Monroe.

I've read through NY Penal Code and Rochester's gun laws - nothing restricting it thus far.  As far as "disturbing the peace" goes... f*ck it.  If I can spread the message of liberty in a place like this, a small charge isn't a big deal.  It'd be worth it.

My goal is to legally (although, "under fire" lol) open carry a rifle with a few friends in downtown.  I'd have a couple cameramen located away from me, as to make sure I'm not being abused and to have evidence of what really happened, etc.  Of course I'd share the original video (as well as the news report) with Liberty Forest

But what you're saying, is I need to know the State, County, and City laws?  Is that it?

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## crushingstep7

Please understand, I'm fully aware that police officers would over-react.  But ya know what - I've had shotguns, AR-15s, and handguns put in my face about 5 times... and I've only been alive 20 years.  So it wouldn't be a big deal for me lol

So long as it's legal, I'll go through the temporary bull.

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## Southron

It seems like it would be legal, at least on some level, or you couldn't go hunting.

NC has very vague open carry laws and I know someone who got charged with "going armed to the terror of the public".

Hopefully NY laws aren't so vague.

I really like upstate NY.  It has some beautiful rural areas. Does NYC dominate the politics like Chicago does to rural Illinois?

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## KCIndy

I'm not a huge fan of the NRA, but I'll have to give credit where credit is due.  The NRA-ILA has some pretty good research available on gun laws.

Check out these links:

http://www.nraila.org/gunlaws/

and 

http://www.nraila.org/statelawpdfs/NYSL.pdf


As near as I can tell from reading through the PDF covering New York State, it *is* legal to open carry a rifle as long as the rifle isn't an "assault weapon" per legal definition.  (see the PDF for definition)

That aside, you might want to check the local/municipal laws of Rochester to make sure there's no city ordinance being violated.

Frankly, your best bet before attempting this would be to consult with a lawyer.

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## rmodel65

> Firearms may be openly carried in cars only with a permit/license.
> http://opencarry.org/ny.html
> 
> i looked for about 20 minutes under this, and could not find where it says OC in a car is legal, so beware:
> http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LA...9+&TARGET=VIEW
> 
> ^fail, i pulled up gun laws for NYC...
> 
> lol, if you want to give a specific location, i might be able to pull up something else.




maybe because laws only make things illegal

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## crushingstep7

Yeah, KCIndy, that's my understanding of the law where I am... Rochester's ordaninces are pretty much identical; even so, I'll just go to a suburb or town on the borders.  

I will be consulting a lawyer, though
Hey, if I get some bogus charge or something, maybe we could do a money bomb so I can fight back!  Or not...

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## KCIndy

> I will be consulting a lawyer, though
> Hey, if I get some bogus charge or something, maybe we could do a money bomb so I can fight back!  Or not...



LOL we'll arrange for a "Bail Bomb" so you don't have to spend the night in stir with Bubba.

If we can't make your bail, we'll arrange for a cake with a file in it!

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## slothman

I'm from ROC too!
I hope it works out.
I want better, assuming they're not good already, laws.
I would say to go to a edge town as well.
The city laws probably aren't as good.

NYC politics don't overwealm(sp) the rest of the state quite like illin(please don't prounce the 's')ois but still significant.

Post right here, er PM, me when you do it so I can watch.
Or at least tell the police so they can arrest you. 
You should get a militia started here.

Offtopic, are there any shooting ranges near by?
I thought I saw one but I only passed by once and don't remember where it was, except that it is in the local boonies.

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## crushingstep7

Haha, damn.  I'm not sure I'd get charged with anything above a civil violation, anyway (ie. "Disorderly Conduct"/"Disturbing the Peace")

Our gun laws are terrible, by the way - almost identical to the Assault Weapons Ban of the 90's; actually we kept it and made minor changes.

And yeah, I'll defeinitely start a new thread and message you beforehand.  Right now, I'm doing some more research and trying to figure out how much a consultation with a lawyer would cost... then I'll have to save up the money.  Not sure how long I'm going to put this off... but I'm in no rush, assuming I go through with it.  I don't see why I shouldn't...

Not a huge fan of "militias" (that term is looser than most of us know).  Not to mention there's a serious lack of courage in this country, let alone New York State.
And yeah, I go to a range that's in Rush - be glad to take you out sometime and let you shoot all my guns

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## crushingstep7

It might be the perfect time to do this!


Basically this video talks about how the McDonald case could topple some of NYs ridiculous gun laws... I'm not so sure, but it seems like an invitation to challenge.  
http://capitalregion.ynn.com/content...york-gun-laws/

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## crushingstep7

Update: NY Penal Code states that:

_A person is guilty of menacing in the second degree when:
  1. He or she intentionally places or attempts to place another person
in reasonable fear of physical injury, serious physical injury or death
by displaying a deadly weapon, dangerous instrument or what appears to
be a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, machine gun or other firearm; or_

Anyone have any ideas?
Carrying a rifle isn't illegal, but "purposely" putting a person in fear of injury is.  
This is such bull$#@!!  How does anyone prove your intent is to put someone in fear?
More importantly, how does someone prove their intent WASN'T to put someone in a state of fear?

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## Bern

I'm not a lawyer, but if I were sitting on a jury, I could draw a distinction between someone who was calm and rational and someone who was acting hysterical, irrational, unstable or otherwise dangerous.

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## PANT3RA

I've seen this thread around for a while now. Just my 2 cents now.


I've open carried my AR-15 in Texas. You'd think I wouldn't get any $#@! from anyone in Texas but I beg to differ. Let's go into basically how the laws are laid out in my state though.

Open carry of handguns is prohibited. You must have your CHL and have to keep your handgun concealed. Which I do.

Open carry of long rifles/shotguns is legal, however police tend to get this mixed up and think open carry of ALL guns in Texas is illegal. I have been questioned a lot by police when I would open carry. So I can only imagine how bad you'll have it in liberal-filled new york...

As long as you stay respectful to the police here, and explain to them it is indeed legal and you are not trying to cause a disturbance they are fine.... (at least the ones I've ran into so far)

After a few run ins myself I don't practice open carry of my rifle much anymore.... It's much easier to conceal carry my glock 19  and no one gives me $#@! for it.



.......well, except for my liberal girlfriend, but I'm determined to educate her about firearms as well..... It seems people with no firearms experience whatsoever is the most anti-gun

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## Southron

> Update: NY Penal Code states that:
> 
> _A person is guilty of menacing in the second degree when:
>   1. He or she intentionally places or attempts to place another person
> in reasonable fear of physical injury, serious physical injury or death
> by displaying a deadly weapon, dangerous instrument or what appears to
> be a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, machine gun or other firearm; or_
> 
> Anyone have any ideas?
> ...


Sounds just like NC's "armed to the terror of the public" law.

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## Toureg89

> I've seen this thread around for a while now. Just my 2 cents now.
> 
> 
> I've open carried my AR-15 in Texas. You'd think I wouldn't get any $#@! from anyone in Texas but I beg to differ. Let's go into basically how the laws are laid out in my state though.
> 
> Open carry of handguns is prohibited. You must have your CHL and have to keep your handgun concealed. Which I do.
> 
> Open carry of long rifles/shotguns is legal, however police tend to get this mixed up and think open carry of ALL guns in Texas is illegal. I have been questioned a lot by police when I would open carry. So I can only imagine how bad you'll have it in liberal-filled new york...
> 
> ...


couldnt agree more. 

its a BAD idea UNLESS you have the MONEY to pay a good lawyer  to take the case ALL THE WAY TO THE SUPREME COURT (if you think its a good case to challenge gun laws), which would cost MILLIONS. 

in my state, OC of guns is illegal, except it says you CAN OC going to and from a gun range. 

so, lets say i want to ride my motorcycle for 20 miles with my AR15 on my back. sure, its legal, but within 5 minutes of stepping off my property, i'm going to be in the back of a squad car, and probably be destined to a jail. and then i'm looking at 10,000-20,000$ to prove my innocense in accordance to unambigious state statutes. 

if i'm going to have to spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to prove my innocense when unconstitutional regulations SAY that i'm innocent (in a pro gun state), guess how much it'll cost you to prove your innocence, when unconstitutional regulations say you're guilty (in a gun grabbing state).

*instead of challenging the system by OC a weapon, you'd make better use of your money by sending all the money you can spare to the lawyer who argued in the Heller and McDonald cases. that way, he can extend his services that much longer to to cases that actually would have the potential of being won.*

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## crushingstep7

Well, here's the thing: I don't have money.  Well, I do - but not enough to hire a lawyer... $#@!, I'd need help paying bail.

As of right now, this looks like a futile attempt at restoring Liberty.

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## youngbuck

I think open carry is legal, but if there's any type of public disturbance and someone calls the cops, you'll have to stop open carrying.  It's like that in a lot of areas, including here in CO.

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## PANT3RA

To be honest, if you're trying to educate people on firearms I would step back, not open carry (especially in your state) And get to know people from different origins, and political affiliations.... If you're persuasive (like me) you'll be able to open their mind if you remind them it's like driving a car (safety first) you listen to some simple guidelines and rules, no one will die from a gun (accidentally).... Like I said, I'm determined to open my girlfriend's mind up on this subject. I've already showed her the flaws in liberal ideology with the devaluation of the dollar and deficits. 

Open carry for the most part SCARES most people. Be it I'm in Texas it probably does not scare as many people as other states but I used to get a lot of (dumb) questions asked when I'd carry my AR-15 in public. One of the funniest ones was "is that a REAL FIREARM YOU'RE CARRYING?!! I THOUGHT ONLY THE MILITARY COULD HAVE THOSE!" haha

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## Jordan

Sounds like a great way to get into a lawsuit that will cost you tens of thousands of dollars even if you win.

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## rmodel65

> I think open carry is legal, but if there's any type of public disturbance and someone calls the cops, you'll have to stop open carrying.  It's like that in a lot of areas, including here in CO.




so if you dont have a permit and its only legal to OC then how do ou accomplish not ocing??

it is a right and it shall not be infringed

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## pcosmar

/thread

*Shall NOT be infringed.*

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## crushingstep7

Believe me, I feel ya, Pcosmar.
And Pantera, I'm persuasive enough.. I've gotten about 5 people to love guns; before, they were "just guns".  Haha
Anyway, sorry to get everyone excited.  $#@!, I'm sorry I got excited over this.
Someone punch Patterson in the face and take the role of Governor.  Please?

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## Austrian Econ Disciple

> Believe me, I feel ya, Pcosmar.
> And Pantera, I'm persuasive enough.. I've gotten about 5 people to love guns; before, they were "just guns".  Haha
> Anyway, sorry to get everyone excited.  $#@!, I'm sorry I got excited over this.
> Someone punch Patterson in the face and take the role of Governor.  Please?


Someone should punch Paterson and then leave the "job" vacated.

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## crushingstep7

He wouldn't even see it coming...
Ok, that was bad.

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