I recently stumbled across your petition and was surprised...
OC is perfectly legal in NC. I live in Beaufort County, and I OC EVERY DAY. I am a graduate student at ECU, and I OC in Greenville, Washington, New Bern, Whiteville, and all over that area all the time, and I've never had a single issue. I have family in Fayetteville and OC there frequently too, and never had an issue. I have OCd in Raleigh, all up and down I-95, and even in Nags Head, and at the Wright Brothers National Memorial park, with not so much as a double-take.
The GAttTotP violation is NOT a "statute". There is NO place in the official statutes of North Carolina that defines this violation. It is a "common law" violation, based in case law, and is not specifically encoded in the official laws and statutes of the state. It is based on an English Common Law from the reign of Edward III. The primary case that outlines the requirements for this charge is "The State of NC vs. Robert S. Huntley". And according to case law precedent, there are THREE specific things you need to be doing to be guilty of GAttTotP:
1) arm himself with any unusual and dangerous weapon,
2) for the purpose of terrifying others,
3) and go about on public highways in a manner to cause terror to others.
In the world of the Courts, this is called a "crime of intention". You have to have the INTENT of causing terror, and set out to purposefully cause terror in people to be guilty of GAttTotP in NC. Walking around with a handgun properly secured in a holster on your hip DOES NOT meet the common law requirements of this violation, nor does it stand up to the case law precedents.
A cop might charge you with GAttTotP, but any judge worth his robe will IMMEDIATELY throw it out if that is the ONLY thing you were doing. I've been searching the court records for over 2 years in NC, and I have YET to find a single instance where someone who was lawfully OCing that got charged with GAttTotP was actually convicted, and that is because--at least for the last 100 years--judges and DAs just dismiss this charge EVERY TIME, unless the person was doing other illegal or unlawful things, like robbing a store, or shouting threat to someone, or violating a restraining order.
GAttTotP is an annoyance, and it needs to be stricken from the books. What we NEED to do is enact an official, codified "Brandishing" law like they have in VA, that is an actual Statutory Law, which includes wording that does away with the whole GAttTotP violation.
Making a law that says OC is legal is a VERY bad idea. The American legal system is set up to start from a point where EVERYTHING is assumed to be legal, and then laws are enacted to tell us what is NOT legal or permitted. When you start passing laws telling people what they CAN do, you go down a VERY slippery slope toward what is called "Napoleonic Law", which is exactly the opposite of what we have in the US. Under Napoleonic Law, you start from a position where NOTHING is legal, and the government then passes laws telling you what you CAN do. And that system is MUCH more restrictive and prone to abuse.
Here in the US, if there is no law prohibiting an activity, then it is, by default, LEGAL, and that's the way it SHOULD be in a free and open society.
According to the "Huntley" ruling, and I quote:
"But although a gun is an "unusual weapon,"
it is to be remembered that the carrying of a gun, per se, constitutes no offence. For any lawful purpose--either of business or amusement--
the citizen is at perfect liberty to carry his gun. It is the wicked purpose, and the mischievous result, which essentially constitute the crime."
OC is legal in NC. There may be a few random, isolated LEOs who like to throw this charge around as a threat, but it has not, and will not stick if you are actually charged while lawfully OCing if you are not doing anything else illegal or threatening.
Activism is a GREAT idea, and I applaud your enthusiasm. But you really should study the history of NC firearms laws before you start petitions like this. Such a petition has the possibility to actually make things WORSE for us...
There is a website called OpenCarry.Org, and I would HIGHLY suggest you go check it out. The NC part of that forum is full of VERY good information, and it will help you educate yourself as to your rights, as well as how to avoid running afoul of the law in NC. Check it out:
http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/forum.php
Good luck in the future with your OC experiences. Stay safe, and keep your eyes and ears open and sharp! I hope to see you soon on OCDO.
