Open carried, no problems

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Wife & I were on a road trip vacation earlier this month. Went through Iowa & Nebraska where I concealed carried in both (I'm a peace officer in Wisconsin).
We were in Sioux Falls and South Sioux City, South Dakota July 9th & 10th where I open carried. To my surprise nobody batted an eye, including the folks behind the desk at the hotels we checked into.


WOW!!:what:

I'm impressed! I wish we could have that in the Majikal Land 'O Cheeze. Trying to conceal in the summer (in my opinion) is a pain!

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Oh, yeah:

Glock 27 in an Uncle Mikes Kydex belt holster W/thumb break.

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Good report.

But WI is open carry outside of vehicles, and the vehicle open carry penalty is only $100.

Are peace officers prohibited from open carrying off duty?

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Mike wrote:

Good report.

But WI is open carry outside of vehicles, and the vehicle open carry penalty is only $100.

Are peace officers prohibited from open carrying off duty?

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I've had this debate on 3 seperate web sites. Open carry is going to get you a disorderly conduct cite here.

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Well, some folks need to work that issue then in localities where this might happen; this has been the pattern elsewhere - once pressure is applied, the threat of disorderly conduct charges melts away.

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If open carry is legal, and an officer gives you a ticket for disorderly conduct for doing something legal, isn't that harrassment? Couldn't you fight that in court?

Just a question.


Glad you enjoyed the opportunity to OC in a place that isn't afraid of guns. South Dakota has always been a place where guns are not uncommon. Heck, our airport looks like an army is invading every year during the beginning of pheasant season. A TON of people in camo and gun cases everywhere. Also, there is usually a 5 gallon bucket available to get rid of any loose ammo you might have forgotten in your pocket when you get to the airport to fly home. Try THAT in LA, Chicago, or NY!

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gsh341 wrote:

If open carry is legal, and an officer gives you a ticket for disorderly conduct for doing something legal, isn't that harrassment? Couldn't you fight that in court?

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Open carry is only legal in that it's not illegal. There are no specific laws for or against it.
Lot's of things are "not illegal" that can/are charged as disorderly conduct, as the DC statute is open to include almost anything that might upset/offend someone.

I myself have never charged DC for open carry, however I've also never been the responding officer on an instance of it. (OC is incredibly rare here). I have been a back up officer for other officers that were investigating OC, and charged DC or disturbing. As for winning in court I can't give legal advice. I can tell you that in 20+ years I've never been called to testify in a case regarding open carry, so I can't tell you the outcome of such cases.

I've contemplated OC off duty with my badge on my belt to avoid any allegation of disorderly conduct, but I've been advised by superiors that it might give the false impression to the public that I was on duty and it would be heavily frowned upon by the brass.

I'm still pleasantly stunned at my experience in South Dakota!

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i live in sioux falls, have for 25 years...

ive never recall ever noticing anyone outside of Garys gun shop OC, but thats not to say no one is doing it...

as soon as i have my handgun, i look forward to OCing as much as posible, as i am in the process of getting my girlfriend, brother, mother and step dad to looking to firearms for selfdefence... if nothing else a good family outing to shoot some holes in paper...


its good to hear people having good experinces exercising their rights on our fine state...

its what i like most about living here, most are pretty common sense folks... and anywhere outside of sioux falls, its about as low key as you can get.