Considered Open Carrying or brandishing?

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Usually whenever I CC I will wear a thin (not see thorugh by any means, just cause it's usually summer) button up shirt over a beater or a t-shirt. If I were to take off my button up shirt in public or when I get out of my car (or at some point with no intention to forseeably put it right back on) without touching my guns or making any motion involving them, would that just be switching over to open carrying or would that be considered brandishing?



Ben

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spectr019 wrote:

Usually whenever I CC I will wear a thin (not see thorugh by any means, just cause it's usually summer) button up shirt over a beater or a t-shirt. If I were to take off my button up shirt in public or when I get out of my car (or at some point with no intention to forseeably put it right back on) without touching my guns or making any motion involving them, would that just be switching over to open carrying or would that be considered brandishing?



Ben

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In Tn, that's just changing over to OC, even if you touch your gun/holster to adjust it. Taking the gun out of the holster and waving it around would be brandishing.

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Actually, there is no brandishing law in TN. As a permit holder you are legally allowed to walk around with a loaded gun in your hand (not that I would recommend anyone do that but under TN law it would be perfectly legal).

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That was my belief as well, I'm glad that I received similar views to it. When I was taking my CCW class, the instructor would say that (for example) even if you reach for an item on a shelf at the store and the bottom of your holster became exposed, that THAT would be considered 'brandishing,' and that you could get in trouble for violation of concealment. Now while that example is not what I was asking exactly, it made me think about just simply switching over from CC to OC. Okay thanks for the responses.

Ben

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spectr019 wrote:

That was my belief as well, I'm glad that I received similar views to it.  When I was taking my CCW class, the instructor would say that (for example) even if you reach for an item on a shelf at the store and the bottom of your holster became exposed, that THAT would be considered 'brandishing,' and that you could get in trouble for violation of concealment.  Now while that example is not what I was asking exactly, it made me think about just simply switching over from CC to OC.  Okay thanks for the responses.

Ben

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Ben, as a Michigan resident, I can confirm that exposing your gun while concealing, no matter how you do it, is not brandishing.

We have an AG opinion which defines brandishing as "Waving or flourishing your weapon in a threatening manner." Exposing your holster or any part of your gun is not, by ANY means, even close to this definition.

Rest assured, you may carry openly, concealed, or anywhere in-between when you have a CPL, and you can't go to jail for just that reason (and if you're harrassed by law enforcement, you have legal remedy).

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bran·dish
play_w2("B0454500")


(br n d sh)
tr.v. bran·dished, bran·dish·ing, bran·dish·es
1. To wave or flourish (a weapon, for example) menacingly.
2. To display ostentatiously. See Synonyms at flourish.
n.
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[Middle English brandissen, from Old French brandir, brandiss-, from brand, sword, of Germanic origin; see g[suP]w[/suP]her- in Indo-European roots.][/align]