Vacation to NC, bringing my firearm. What do I need to know <laws>?

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I've been in Florida for about two years now, but I' going to be heading up to NC for a few days at the end of this week. I'd like to try out this open carry thing for the first tie, but would prefer to stay off the cover the local news paper and also leave the state without looking like a used target.

I do currently hold a Florida (resident) CCW.

Some quick key things I've found so far are:

• Florida only restricts carry in bars or bar areas of restaurants that serve alcohol. They also have no restrictions on carry while drinking (although not recommended). From what I have seen, I don't think I can do that in NC.
• 'No Weapons' signs in Florida carry no legal weight. On top of that, we are required to be concealed anyway. The only time we have to leave, is once asked. Can I legally ignore these signs when concealed?
• I saw Chapel Hill & Cary have restrictions on being open. Are there additional locations I need to be aware of?
• As I spend all of my time concealed, I have very few holsters that would be appropriate. I assume being open with my SOB holster would be a bad idea, pocket holsters can't be open, that leaves me to one cheap paddle holster. It has no retention (other than the required straight up draw). Is that a problem?

Thanks folks!

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A friend of mine lives in Florida now, he always tells me how incredibly slack the Florida gun laws are, in comparison to North Carolina.

In North Carolina, you cannot carry in ANY establishment where alcohol is bought AND consumed. Whether its a bar, an Applebee's, a Ruby Tuesday, or whatever, you can't walk into the door with a weapon, open or concealed.

You cannot carry, open or concealed, once you have any bit of an alcoholic beverage in you. Not .08%, not .02%, not .01%. The legal limit when you are carrying a firearm is 0.0%.

There are restricted areas for concealed carry, such as government buildings, banks, educational facilities, among other places. If the owner of a business or private property posts a sign that says no guns allowed, then you'd become a criminal by ignoring it.

Contrary to the RUMORS, there is actually NO RESTRICTION on open carry in Cary. We have a handful of guys on this forum who live in that area (I live just a short ways from Cary), who OC there daily, and have even had OC lunch/dinner get-togethers in Cary. The reason for the rumors is because the Cary police have been known to give some folks a hard time about open carrying, although they have no legal basis to do so.

Chapel Hill is the ONLY district in North Carolina that I know of that actually DOES have a legal restriction on open carry. The restriction is something along the lines of "If it is small enough to be easily concealed, it is restricted from being carried openly". That is NOT the exact words from the statute, but that's the basic jist of it. Basically, you can't OC handguns.

Also, there's no problem with you carrying a small of the back holster. Why would you think there would be? I usually carry my 9mm in a Fobus paddle holster.

Welcome to the forum.

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BRobb19 wrote:

A friend of mine lives in Florida now, he always tells me how incredibly slack the Florida gun laws are, in comparison to North Carolina.

In North Carolina, you cannot carry in ANY establishment where alcohol is bought AND consumed. Whether its a bar, an Applebee's, a Ruby Tuesday, or whatever, you can't walk into the door with a weapon, open or concealed.

You cannot carry, open or concealed, once you have any bit of an alcoholic beverage in you. Not .08%, not .02%, not .01%. The legal limit when you are carrying a firearm is 0.0%.

There are restricted areas for carry, such as government buildings, banks, educational facilities, among other places. If the owner of a business or private property posts a sign that says no guns allowed, then you'd become a criminal by ignoring it.

Contrary to the RUMORS, there is actually NO RESTRICTION on open carry in Cary. We have a handful of guys on this forum who live in that area (I live just a short ways from Cary), who OC there daily, and have even had OC lunch/dinner get-togethers in Cary. The reason for the rumors is because the Cary police have been known to give some folks a hard time about open carrying, although they have no legal basis to do so.

Chapel Hill is the ONLY district in North Carolina that I know of that actually DOES have a legal restriction on open carry. The restriction is something along the lines of "If it is small enough to be easily concealed, it is restricted from being carried openly". That is NOT the exact words from the statute, but that's the basic jist of it. Basically, you can't OC handguns.

Also, there's no problem with you carrying a small of the back holster. Why would you think there would be? I usually carry my 9mm in a Fobus paddle holster.

Welcome to the forum.

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You can't carry in a bank? That is the last place on the planet <other than a gun store or gun show> that I would want to be without a firearm. I think I'll avoid them all together when I'm up there. Is there a list of places, or an online copy of the laws?

The 'signed' thing is going to get annoying quick... I'm in the habit of ignoring them. I hope if I miss one, I'd get a :what:and told to leave (or get rid of the firearm) prior to showing up on the news, but I'll try and be careful.

The SOB holster would have me concerned when if I'm open. I have 0 visibility of my back, and would be afraid of an opportunistic grab. Again, it has nothing making a grab difficult (retention). It would be even further out in the open than on my side due to my arm being at least a deterrent <in the area>.

This may sound silly, but I often carry in an SOBwith a BUG in my right front pocket, there isn't any silly law restricting the number of firearms I can carry, is there <I don't like to reload :lol:>?

I guess it won't matter, as I can go concealed or open, but how 'open' does a firearm have to be to be open? I don't want to be on the borderline and have to be hassled for my 'papers' while on vacation. My thinking is, IWB would conceal some of the firearm, would that require a CCW? I think actually seeing a copy of the statute may clear up some of these points.

And to your point about Florida's lax laws... We can't open carry (unless hunting/fishing/camping)... Give and take...

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Don't be so concerned about being completely open or not. You have a permit that covers you if you DO conceal, and if someone can look at you and see your firearm, you're carrying openly.

Signs banning firearms make it illegal to carry concealed, as the permit specifically doesn't cover these areas. Open carry, however, is legal, since there is no law saying otherwise. Of course, if they do ask you to leave, you will have to comply as usual.

The Chapel Hill restriction only includes handguns with an "overall length" of less than 6 inches. They list various ways of determining the length, but the bottom line is that unless your handgun is tiny, you're fine. Even my Walther PPK/s is over 6 inches by their standards. The only handgun I own that would be restricted is my Kel-Tec P3AT.

You CAN open carry in a bank. There is no law that says you can't. The law only specifically restricts concealed carry. I have tested this multiple times at different banks with no problems. My bank did end up calling me and ask that I don't carry there anymore, but admitted that it wasn't illegal lol.

The main things you need to remember is that you cannot carry in any places that serve alcohol, even beer or wine, and you can't carry in places where an admission has been charged, including movie theaters, clubs, etc. If you stay in a hotel with a bar or restaurant, the line is normally very obviously drawn where the hotel ends and the establishment starts.

You're probably right about the SOB holster. I wouldn't be too comfortable about that, either. I often carry with a normal belt or paddle holster without retention, though.

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Oh, I beleve NC is a 'must inform' state. Is that correct?

I'm used to Florida. Unless the officer is going to accidentally grab the trigger of your firearm, you are not required to say anything (I typically go with 'I have nothing illegal' as my answer to any questions about weapons, it saves them from running serials, unloading my firearms, and <depending on how long they've been on the street> calling for 67 backup vehicles).

When do I have to inform the officer I am carrying? As soon as they initiate contact, or only when asked?

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You will need to double check the signs on some businesses.
Some say "No concealed weapons"
Others say "No firearms"
One you can OC in, and one you can't. The distinction should be pretty obvious.

I would also be a little concerned about OCing in a SOB holster. I sometimes carry SOB openly, but I usually have another firearm immediately available as well.

We do not have any restrictions on the number of firearms that you can carry. It is a Concealed Handgun Permit in NC though, so other weapons are not allowed to be concealed.

You must inform whenever approached in an official capacity when CCing. There is no duty to inform when OCing, though it is generally considered a good idea. If you are pulled over, then you hand your permit over with your DL and inform the officer that you are carrying first.


Everything else has been covered already.

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BRobb19 wrote:

You cannot carry, open or concealed, once you have any bit of an alcoholic beverage in you. Not .08%, not .02%, not .01%. The legal limit when you are carrying a firearm is 0.0%.

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Not wanting to confuse the topic, but it is legal to open carry with alcohol. The Law bans any carry in place that sells alcohol for consumption and also bans concealed carry while there is any alcohol in your system. It does not however ban possession of alcohol while open carrying.

§ 14‑415.11 " It shall be unlawful for a person, with or without a permit, to carry a concealed handgun while consuming alcohol or at any time while the person has remaining in his body any alcohol or in his blood a controlled substance previously consumed,"

Unless there is a sectionof whichI am unaware this covers carrying with alcohol.