carrying concealed at assemblies.

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I just recently obtained my permit to carry concealed. My question is what defines an assembly. I searched the dictionary for definition of an assembly as listed below and highlighted are my real questions regarding.

a. The act of assembling. The state of being assembled.2. A group of persons gathered together for a common reason, as for a legislative, religious, educational, or social purpose.

So we all eat at restaurants that do not serve alcohol for a common reason of eating obviously, so therefore we assemble for that comon purpose.

We assemble at churches such as a congregation for the common purpose of worshiping god. Ive noticed some churches ask thier members to carry thier concealed handguns in church as I have observed several members of this forum mentioning.

Social purposes such as you and a couple of friends= a group at your friends house for his party and you are specifically not consuming alcohol. You have now assembled for that common purpose of celebrating.

My question is if I were to carry a gun to these locations it might be suggesting that I’m illegally acting under the concealed carry law. Am I wrong, am I putting to much thought into this?


Would someone mind clearing this up for me who may have more knowledge?

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§ 14‑269.3. Carrying weapons into assemblies and establishments where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to carry any gun, rifle, or pistol into any assembly where a fee has been charged for admission thereto, or into any establishment in which alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

(b) This section shall not apply to the following:

(1) A person exempted from the provisions of G.S. 14‑269;

(2) The owner or lessee of the premises or business establishment;

(3) A person participating in the event, if he is carrying a gun, rifle, or pistol with the permission of the owner, lessee, or person or organization sponsoring the event; and

(4) A person registered or hired as a security guard by the owner, lessee, or person or organization sponsoring the event. (1977, c. 1016, s. 1; 1981, c. 412, s. 4, c. 747, s. 66; 1993, c. 539, s. 165; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

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The way that it is expressed in the CHP class and in thedo's/don'ts rule sheetmakes this prohibition seem much worse then it actually is. It is really just places that serve alcohol and places that charge admission. I guess crime never happens in a movie theatre, theme park, or restaurant.

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dubccat51 said it well. Weapons are only prohibited in assemblies where admission is charged to enter. The definition of an assembly is still important, obviously. Unfortunatelythe bottomline isanywhere you go where you have to pay to enter, you can't be legally armed. This entire law, the admission AND alcohol parts together, need to disappear.

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Dreqo, I have been on this forum for months now, and have never been one to start online fights or hijack threads. But I’m going to have to differ with you on one thing.

“Unfortunatelythe bottomline isanywhere you go where you have to pay to enter, you can't be legally armed.”

Let’s read the law carefully. If you have to pay a fee for admission, but there is nobody there (let’s say an empty movie theater) I believe you can bring a weapon in on the grounds that there is no assembly. My firearms instructor brought this up and I think he has a point.

You may disagree, but do you see at least how I am interpreting this?

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Godcreation,

I can see your point, where it comes to interpretation. However, I think that will be hard to defend if you ever have to.

The only thing that would have to happen is for them to say, "how did you know there were no other patrons in the theatre before you went in?" Therefore just entering the theatre at that point is a violation. It does not say that everyone had to be assembled in the same area, but the purpose of the assembly is a common purpose, seeing a movie, whichever that may be.

To say, "I was the only one in my particular part of the theatre", is like saying, "I was the only one in this particular part of the club. When I arrived, no one else was here."

Just saying.

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Godscreation wrote:

Dreqo, I have been on this forum for months now, and have never been one to start online fights or hijack threads. But I’m going to have to differ with you on one thing.

“Unfortunatelythe bottomline isanywhere you go where you have to pay to enter, you can't be legally armed.”

Let’s read the law carefully. If you have to pay a fee for admission, but there is nobody there (let’s say an empty movie theater) I believe you can bring a weapon in on the grounds that there is no assembly. My firearms instructor brought this up and I think he has a point.

You may disagree, but do you see at least how I am interpreting this?

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No need for all of the pleasantries disagreement is a healthy part of conversation and learning. Speaking of which, I would have to say that I don't agree with your example. A movie theater is a place of public assembly, whether or not a group of people is assembledthere at any given time. The same could be said for clubs, bars, fairs, etc. Now, if the theater building were being leased or borrowed for some other private purpose, then I think you would have an exception.