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Licensed Open Carry - Shall Issue vs. May Issue

Daniel7723

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Hello folks. This is my first post. I've been lurking for a few months and finally decided to put my $0.02 in. I was thinking that the mods might want to consider having separate colors to denote the shall issue license to carry states and the may issue. It just doesn't seem logical to me for Maryland and Hawaii to be in the same category as Tennessee and Utah. I would also consider dividing the anomalous open carry states into two separate categories. One for states which allow open carry both on foot and in a vehicle without a permit, but allow for local restrictions, and another for states which allow open carry on foot without a permit, but require a permit to OC in a vehicle.
 

imperialism2024

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I'm not speaking for the creators of the site... but I think their intention was to simplify the classifications. It would serve no purpose to have 20 different color codes when there are only 50 states. The four (five?) general categories give a decent enough idea of how states' laws work, and people can and should look at the individual state pages to see details.


ETA: As for may issue v. shall issue, another idea that might be lost on newer members (I mean no offense) is that all permits are a violation of rights, no matter how freely they are given out. One of the main purposes of open carry is that in many states, a permit is not required. The way I look at it, the states that allow open carry without a license are all "good", so to speak, and the states that require a license are equally not so good from a Constitutional perspective, regardless of if that states approves 99% or applications for permits of .09% of applications.

Also, welcome to OCDO! Happy open carrying!
 

deepdiver

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Welcome to the forum!

The shall issue/may issue issue is one of concealed carry (excepting the few states that require license to OC). Other sites such as handgunlaw.us have their maps set up in that manner on their home pages as that is their primary area of concern and expertise. Many of us on the forum CC as well as OC and frequent other sites specific to CC to maintain our knowledge on those issues as well.
 

Daniel7723

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deepdiver wrote:
The shall issue/may issue issue is one of concealed carry (excepting the few states that require license to OC). Other sites such as handgunlaw.us have their maps set up in that manner on their home pages as that is their primary area of concern and expertise. Many of us on the forum CC as well as OC and frequent other sites specific to CC to maintain our knowledge on those issues as well.
Well, my point was that, in practical terms, the ability to OC differs greatly between shall issue states and may issue states. I tend to think that a permit which is a legal right, and that which is a gift from the Gods of Government should be classified differently, given the impact each has on the day to day life of anyone trying to OC.
 

deepdiver

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Daniel7723 wrote:
deepdiver wrote:
The shall issue/may issue issue is one of concealed carry (excepting the few states that require license to OC). Other sites such as handgunlaw.us have their maps set up in that manner on their home pages as that is their primary area of concern and expertise. Many of us on the forum CC as well as OC and frequent other sites specific to CC to maintain our knowledge on those issues as well.
Well, my point was that, in practical terms, the ability to OC differs greatly between shall issue states and may issue states. I tend to think that a permit which is a legal right, and that which is a gift from the Gods of Government should be classified differently, given the impact each has on the day to day life of anyone trying to OC.
First of all, any requirement to obtain a permit to carry a firearm is a "gift from the Gods of Government", be it shall or may issue, regardless of requirements.

I think I am not understanding what you are saying besides that. Are you talking about permit required to OC states that are shall/may issue? Or are you talking about shall/may issue states in general?

FL, AR, OK, SC and TX are no OC states but are all shall issue for CC. There are several licensed OC states that are may issue -- IA, HI, MA, CT, NJ, MD (I may have missed some in those lists).

Anyway, can you please clarify what you mean. I thought I understood but your response leads me to think I did not.
 

Daniel7723

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I'm talking about different classifications for states which allow OC only with a license to carry. My point is that Tennessee, Georgia, North Dakota, Utah, et cetera would fit into the licensed OC states that have shall issue licensing. Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland, et cetera are discretionary issue licensed OC states. I think there should be a different classification for shall issue/may issue only as it relates to the issue of Open Carry. Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas may have shall issue licensing, but the permits they issue do not allow for OC, so those permits are immaterial to this discussion.

As far as the whole "all permits are a gift from the Gods of Government," issue, I agree one hundred percent. I think we should be able to OC/CC anywhere, any time. It's just that in practical terms, with our laws the way they are right now, I think the best we can do in some cases is be grateful for shall issue, and be glad we are not stuck with may issue or no issue.
 

deepdiver

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Gotcha now -- you want a "licensed OC shall issue" and a "licensed OC may issue" differentiation by color on the main map. Why didn't you just say that? :p
 

imperialism2024

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Well, really a more pertinent issue to carrying is the "off-limits" areas. A shall issue process isn't too useful if carry is prohibited in "public places". And how would you classify Alabama, as it is technically "may issue" but in practice is "shall issue"? Or states that are "shall issue" but require a myriad of requirements, like "safety" training and fingerprinting? States that are "shall-issue" but lack preemption?

For the purposes of this site, it isn't important how one gets a "permit" to carry. Permits to open carry are a Constitutional violation, plain and simple. The important issue is whether or not a permit is required to open carry.
 
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