kmcintosh78 said:
Just be ready for a Crap storm if you are downtown PHX, Scottsdale maybe. Most of the other cities were not as up tight about open carrying.
Being ex LEO in Gilbert, I can give you a couple suggestions.
1. If you are approached by law enforcement, keep your hands at about belly height and folded.
2. I would suggest starting to keep your wallet (With ID) in your front pocket, opposite the side where you will wear your firearm.
3. ID yourself, and advise of the weapon. If asked for ID, before moving your hands, advise the office of everything you will do, and move slow.
4. I believe the law in AZ, if I remember correctly, is you can carry open, but you can't have a round chambered, but can have a mag inserted.
5. When you go to travel in your vehicle, the law changes a bit. If you don't have a concealed permit, you need to have the handgun in plain sight, with no mag inserted, and ammo in a separate locked compartment.
Understand that most of the suggestions above are either not AZ law, or are blatant violations of your rights while engaging in perfectly legal behavior. Read this Federal court's ruling:
http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-G...cannot-detain-people-for-openly-carrying-guns
The actual ruling itself is the first link in the above article. To see what the court is talking about in action watch the 45 minute video, The citizen's guide to surviving a police encounter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA
Second, be aware of school zones. Without the concealed carry permit, you are subject to the 1000ft rule. It's a pain, but the law does apply. It is contained in 18 USC 922(q). Actually, I would suggest you read all of 18 USC 922, but especially (q). It also contains several exceptions such as on private property, etc.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000922----000-.html
Third, go to opencarry.org, in the Arizona section, see if you can get one of the guys there to do something with you the first time. I am always happy to meet people and go to lunch or whatever. The opencarry picnics and gatherings are a bunch of fun.
Finally, if you are approached by LEO, try to stay calm. If you know the law, be confident that you are not breaking the law. Politely refuse to have your rights violated. If LEO insists upon violating you rights, explain to them prior to submitting to their requests that you feel that you are being officially detained by them and only because you feel that you are being officially detained will you comply with their requests. Be sure to document their badge number and name. Be confident that, now the Federal court precedence has been very clearly set, that you will be getting a nice bonus for your bank account, should you choose to take it to court.
I carry everywhere I go and a lot of times I will have my thirteen year old soon-to-be stepdaughter with me. She gets a big kick out of it when someone asks me about my gun. A lot of times she won't even let me reply before she chimes in! I started with a holster exactly like yours. You will want to switch soon. It's just too floppy on the belt. Also, the spare magazine holder belongs on your weak side, not on your strong side. Think about how you will retrieve that magazine during a magazine change. Personally, just for me, I don't carry a spare magazine, but it does belong on the other side if you choose to carry one. I now have two holsters both with two belt loops on them and I feed my belt through the holster loop, through my side pants belt loop, and then through the second loop on the holster. I find that the thumb break retention strap is all the retention I need.
Oh, and thank you! for being willing to stand up and show that you care enough about yourself and other people to have the means available to protect yourself and your family and for being willing to display to the public that it is simply acceptable for Americans to be able to do so.
