What is “Open Carry”?
OC is the act of carrying a firearm (mostly handguns
however rifles and shotguns may be OC’d) in plain sight
on your person while conducting your daily business.
This normally means a handgun secured in a holster on
the outside of your clothing much the same way a police
officer would carry their weapon. Alternative options
would be a shoulder holster, “in the waistband”
holster (providing your shirt is tucked in exposing the
butt of the handgun) and tactical / drop leg holsters. “In the waistband” holsters are not
considered “concealed” under VA law since about 1/3 of
the firearm (the butt) is exposed (See example pictures
below). Just take care not to
let your shirt come un-tucked and cover the firearm if
you are not in possession of a CHP. Carrying a firearm
in your hands, whether handgun or long gun is not OC!
That is considered “brandishing” and it's against the law.
The proper way to OC a rifle or shotgun is with a sling,
however OC’ing a rifle or shotgun around town is not
common and will likely merit you a visit from the
police, possibly with guns drawn on you.
Is “Open Carry” legal in Virginia?
Virginia enacts all laws pertaining to firearms (except
discharge) at the state level. This is called
“pre-emption” which means local towns, cities, and
counties may not create their own firearms laws. Why is
this important? Without pre-emption you might be able to
carry a firearm with a 15 round magazine in county “A”
but as soon as you crossed the border into county “B” (a
new political jurisdiction) their laws might be
different; perhaps 10 round magazines are the legal
limit there. You have now broken the law by simply
crossing an invisible political line from one county to
the next. Realizing that citizens could not possibly
keep up to date on various laws in every VA locality the
state has wisely implemented uniform statewide firearm
laws. Now, getting to the point: Is Open Carry legal in
VA? The answer can be found in the specific firearms
code which you just learned about, the Virginia
“pre-emption” law:
§
15.2-915. Control of
firearms; applicability to authorities and local
governmental agencies.
A.
No locality shall adopt or enforce any ordinance,
resolution or motion, as permitted by §
15.2-1425, and no agent of
such locality shall take any administrative action,
governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership,
carrying, storage or
transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or
combination thereof other than those expressly
authorized by statute. For purposes of this section, a
statute that does not refer to firearms, ammunition, or
components or combination thereof, shall not be
construed to provide express authorization.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit a locality from adopting
workplace rules relating to terms and conditions of
employment of the workforce. Nothing in this section
shall prohibit a law-enforcement officer, as defined in
§
9.1-101 from acting within
the scope of his duties.
The provisions of this section applicable to a locality shall also
apply to any authority or to a local governmental
entity, including a department or agency, but not
including any local or regional jail or juvenile
detention facility.
B.
Any local ordinance,
resolution or motion adopted prior to the effective date
of this act governing the purchase, possession,
transfer, ownership,
carrying or transporting
of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination
thereof, other than those expressly authorized by
statute,
is invalid.
(1987, c. 629, § 15.1-29.15; 1988, c. 392; 1997, cc. 550, 587; 2002,
c. 484; 2003, c. 943; 2004, cc. 837, 923.)
Simply put, the state has sole authority over the
creation of firearm laws and has invalidated all
previous laws enacted by political entities at lower
levels. Virginia currently does not have any law
criminalizing open carry, thus OC is legal. You might
find someone who would ask “What law allows you to open
carry?” under the misguided assumption that laws create
privileges. That person actually has things backwards,
laws tell you what you cannot do and spell out criminal
penalties for breaking said laws.
Further comments regarding OC in Virginia:
Retention: If you decide you want to try
OC in Virginia it’s recommended that you use a proper
holster specifically fitted for your firearm that
implements
some form of retention. Retention is a smart idea as it
keeps your firearm securely in your holster should
someone bump into you or in the worst case scenario try
to forcibly take your firearm from you. In the editors
opinion, the best
retention holsters are the “Serpa Level II Close Quarterss Combat (CQC)” models sold by Blackhawk.
Dress: It’s advisable to dress
professionally while OC’ing. Experience shows that
smartly dressed gun carriers are ignored or assumed to
be plain clothes detectives. The owner of this site has
received the “law enforcement discount” on numerous
occasions while out eating or fetching coffee from
7-Eleven.
Manners: Always be polite, say thank you,
and be ready to explain why you have a gun. Most people
are unaware that OC is legal and your attitude may
determine their lasting opinion of gun carriers in
public.
Examples of open carry:
Holstered firearm on outside of the belt
In the waistband
Shoulder holster
Drop leg (tactical) holster
(Not recommended unless you are
Jack
Bauer)
