Open Carry in Michigan

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FreakShow,

Where have you carried other than Laurium up here? I have been considering OCing aroung the Houghton/Hancock area once I get a better OWB holster and I wasn't sure if I should send them the opencarry.org info packet or just go ahead and do it.
Mostly Houghton/Hancock and northward including the Harbor.

WalMart's cool with it. Open or concealed, as long as it's legal, is their company policy.

When I head down to WI to visit family, I OC along the way. Most of the time in vehicle, but sometimes on my motorcycle. Never an issue. I stop at the border on 41 to disarm before I head into WI. Once I saw about 6 cars pulled over there doing the arm/disarm thing. Half were arming up, the other half disarming. Good laugh.

The state police are well aware of the open carry laws. Jason is very cool. Coppo and Abramson (Houghton County) are my wife's cousins. They are up and up on the laws. The DNR officer is too.

The only holster I OC in is my Serpa, but since I'm rebuilding the top end of my 1911, I haven't used it and thus haven't OC'd lately, maybe in the yard a bit with a level one. I'm a block away from the police station and they know of my FFL and what I'm about, so they are cool with me.

I've been wanting to get a Glock level 2 holster, but am torn. I usually carried my G30 but recently got a G23 for a steal and might be carrying that during the summer as it's a bit thinner. I need to conceal at my other job. It's a don't ask/tell situation. The owner knows, but hasn't said anything.

BTW, you sound like you're local. I do $20 transfers if you need services.
 
Thanks Freakshow. I am local, and I believe I shot your custom 10mm 1911 down at the MTU range. You also have a .375 H&H handgun, right? :what: I am a new range officer at MTU, so I'm sure I will see you down there again.

-Polish/Rob
 
OK, I probably met you. Not too good with names. I remember Dan, Andrew, and a Chris I think. Dan open carries quite a bit too.

I'll be back at MTU range this fall. I'm getting my class 2 manufacturer credentials, so I will have some full auto and sound suppressors we can shoot down there.

Unfortunately I sold the 375 H&H pistol. Needed to raise funds for my business.
 
Wow...Some Ignorance when talking about Michigan Police Officers. You don't like it out there? Try it in California. I was born and Raised Michigan, and am stationed out in Cali, and let me tell you, you have nothing to complain about with MI Police Officers. I may be a BIT biased against Cali officers, considering my recent arrest....but still. MI LEO's are not bad.

I've lived in Los Angeles as well as Chicago and all over Michigan. LA police are corrupt and contemptible, bottom of the barrel trash, anti-rights as they get. I shrug my shoulders if I hear about one taking a bullet from a gang member on the news, they're both two different sides of the same sheet.

That said, Michigan police are a pretty ignorant lot too. Certainly not as bad as Chicago or Los Angeles, but lawyers I know have caught them openly lying in court and I've witnessed enough "trumped up" charges against people in college towns. Im not a believer of the "one bad apple" routine that apologists here use. It happens far too often and it is simply much safer to assume that you're dealing with a bad apple rather than an honest man. I even recall seeing a study cited showing that CCW holders are less likely to break the law than police are. I need to bookmark that for future reference.

Comparing MI police to california cops is not an excuse for their own poor training and execution. Its like saying "NYC isnt that bad, compared to 1980s East Berlin!" Perhaps the police better in the UP or western michigan, but SE michigan police should be avoided, as there is no positive outcome from any interaction with them. I suspect it is the type of people drawn to the profession, power trippers, bullies, those that didnt even make it through a bachelors degree.

So far I've found Oregon police to be a professional bunch from the little interaction I've had with them.

-T
 
Sounds like a cop wannabe that never made it through the academy.

Sorry dude, you've missed the mark by a huge margin. I've got better things to do with my time than walking around with a night stick pretending I was important.

-T
 
I've spent some time with a couple of Houghton's finest in the past. If I had known then what I know now... I was treated pretty poorly for something I had absolutely no part in.

Other than that... My time spent in the Keweenaw @ Tech was simply the best time of my life.

I've put quite a bit of lead and a few thousand arrows down range in the basement of the SDC... :D
 
I just posted the following in this thread http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=383409 regarding open carry in Michigan.

All Michigan Gun Owners should be aware of http://www.mcrgo.org(Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners). There is a lot of nice information on the site.
Here is one of the posts from their site under CPL FAQs:

Q: You were quoted as saying 'open-carry' was still legal in Michigan. I am in possession of a CPL, now but I cannot find any reference to open-carry in my copy of the Michigan Firearms Laws. Please clarify. What is open-carry? When does it apply as compared to my CPL?

A: In the 19th century, Michigan outlawed the carry of concealed weapons. The rational was that a person could use a concealed pistol in a fight and surprise his or her opponent. That is, a person had a right to know if the other person was armed before getting in a dispute. Michigan has forbidden the carrying of a pistol without a license in a motor vehicle, whether concealed or not, for much the same reason. Poachers who would hunt from cars may very well be the reason that we can only carry our long guns cased or in the truck of an automobile (MCL 324.43513). There are other laws that forbid the carrying of pistols with an unlawful intent (MCL 750.226), and the brandishing of a firearm (MCL 750.234e). Since there are no laws that forbid it, the open carrying of a pistol or other firearm, without unlawful intent and without brandishing, outside of a vehicle is legal.

They also currently have a poll on the front page about open carry and a link to an article "Open Carry - Is Michigan Ready?"
2008/07/31
By Skip Coryell here: http://www.mcrgo.org/mcrgo/view/news.asp?articleid=3428&zoneid=6
I thought it was a good read .
 
OC Get-together

For any interested, I am organizing an OC get-together in the Houghton/Hancock area of the U.P. We will just get together and BBQ, hang out, and get to know other people who OC, CC, or just want to stop by and chat. No marches through town or anything, just a good time. I'll post more details when the date/time solidifies.

-Polish
 
lawson4 what do you expect from a state that forces you to register your handguns with local law enforcment? That's why I live in the deep south now. No more snow and a LOT less liberal weenies.
 
Something I must have missed the first time round here.

The Michigan concealed weapons statute (MCL 750.227(2)) makes it illegal to transport a pistol anywhere in a vehicle unless the person is licensed to carry a concealed pistol. Exceptions can be found in MCL 750.231a, which allows transportation of pistols for a “lawful purpose.” A lawful purpose is defined as going to or from any one of the following:
�� A hunting or target area
�� A place of repair
�� Moving goods from a home or business to another home or business
�� A law enforcement agency (for a safety inspection or to turn the pistol over to the agency)
�� A gun show or place of sale or purchase
�� A public shooting facility
�� Public land where shooting is legal
�� Private property where a pistol may be lawfully used

This is incorrect. There is NO definition of "lawful purpose" in Michigan law. What the law does do, is list some examples that "lawful purpose" "includes". That is an excerpt taken from the State Police website, but it's wrong.

Please see:
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(jq...on&highlight=firearms, AND lawful AND purpose

THE MICHIGAN PENAL CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 328 of 1931​

***** 750.231a THIS SECTION IS AMENDED EFFECTIVE JANUARY 7, 2009: See 750.231a.amended *****


750.231a Exceptions to MCL 750.227(2); definitions.


Sec. 231a.

(1) Subsection (2) of section 227 does not apply to any of the following:

(a) To a person holding a valid license to carry a pistol concealed upon his or her person issued by his or her state of residence except where the pistol is carried in nonconformance with a restriction appearing on the license.

(b) To the regular and ordinary transportation of pistols as merchandise by an authorized agent of a person licensed to manufacture firearms.

(c) To a person carrying an antique firearm as defined in subsection (2), completely unloaded in a closed case or container designed for the storage of firearms in the trunk of a vehicle.

(d) To a person while transporting a pistol for a lawful purpose that is licensed by the owner or occupant of the motor vehicle in compliance with section 2 of 1927 PA 372, MCL 28.422, and the pistol is unloaded in a closed case designed for the storage of firearms in the trunk of the vehicle.

(e) To a person while transporting a pistol for a lawful purpose that is licensed by the owner or occupant of the motor vehicle in compliance with section 2 of 1927 PA 372, MCL 28.422, and the pistol is unloaded in a closed case designed for the storage of firearms in a vehicle that does not have a trunk and is not readily accessible to the occupants of the vehicle.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) “Antique firearm” means either of the following:

(i) A firearm not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898, including a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system or replica of such a firearm, whether actually manufactured before or after 1898.

(ii) A firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.

(b) “Lawful purpose” includes the following:

(i) While en route to or from a hunting or target shooting area.

(ii) While transporting a pistol en route to or from his or her home or place of business and place of repair.

(iii) While moving goods from 1 place of abode or business to another place of abode or business.

(iv) While transporting a licensed pistol en route to or from a law enforcement agency for the purpose of having a safety inspection performed on the pistol as is required by section 9 of 1927 PA 372, MCL 28.429, or for the purpose of having a law enforcement official take possession of the weapon.

(v) While en route to or from his or her abode or place of business and a gun show or places of purchase or sale.

(vi) While en route to or from his or her abode to a public shooting facility or public land where discharge of firearms is permitted by law, rule, regulation, or local ordinance.

(vii) While en route to or from his or her abode to a private property location where the pistol is to be used as is permitted by law, rule, regulation, or local ordinance.
Emphasis mine.
 
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