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Open carrying in your vehicle
- Thread Starter Christopher wh
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I used to open carry a lot before my CHL.
The law absolutely sucks in terms of defining exactly how it is to be done other than "in plain sight". And now with the addition of awesome city/county ordinances unless you have a CHL you cannot loaded open carry otherwise you face potential legal trouble… yeah, tell me how that makes any sense, constitutionally or logically.
The vehicle being a container would essentially equate to being "on your person" therefore if it is concealed it has to be locked up or beyond immediate reach… however if carried openly Id assume unloaded is what some counties intend on you doing.. however logically if you place it in a non locking compartment like a glove box or midsection then technically that could meet the definition of "concealed" though you were just trying to avoid scaring people or having your property stolen.
Again.. mental midgets that have no understanding of real life and all its grey areas of possibility wrote these laws.
In all honesty Id call your local police department and ask them directly for clarification, or better yet do it in an email, save and print that and keep it in your vehicle.
Sorry I cannot be of much help.. and you can clearly tell I have nothing but disdain for our "elected" officials and local leaders who write our idiotic local laws.
The law absolutely sucks in terms of defining exactly how it is to be done other than "in plain sight". And now with the addition of awesome city/county ordinances unless you have a CHL you cannot loaded open carry otherwise you face potential legal trouble… yeah, tell me how that makes any sense, constitutionally or logically.
The vehicle being a container would essentially equate to being "on your person" therefore if it is concealed it has to be locked up or beyond immediate reach… however if carried openly Id assume unloaded is what some counties intend on you doing.. however logically if you place it in a non locking compartment like a glove box or midsection then technically that could meet the definition of "concealed" though you were just trying to avoid scaring people or having your property stolen.
Again.. mental midgets that have no understanding of real life and all its grey areas of possibility wrote these laws.
In all honesty Id call your local police department and ask them directly for clarification, or better yet do it in an email, save and print that and keep it in your vehicle.
Sorry I cannot be of much help.. and you can clearly tell I have nothing but disdain for our "elected" officials and local leaders who write our idiotic local laws.
Last Edited:
Just my anecdotal observations not legal advice...
Many years ago before it was illegal to OC with a loaded chamber it was considered by many legal to OC in your vehicle without a CHL, as long as the gun was visible on you if outside the vehicle. Many people who were unsure just put it on the dash where it was clearly open carry and generally most everyone agreed that was acceptable per then laws.
Now that its illegal to OC with one in the chamber who knows.
Many years ago before it was illegal to OC with a loaded chamber it was considered by many legal to OC in your vehicle without a CHL, as long as the gun was visible on you if outside the vehicle. Many people who were unsure just put it on the dash where it was clearly open carry and generally most everyone agreed that was acceptable per then laws.
Now that its illegal to OC with one in the chamber who knows.
It is? Is that one of the new laws recently passed? I thought that was only at the capital building.
It is in Portland, or I think all of Multnomah County. I dont think its the law in other parts of the state, but I think other municipalities have adopted similar bans on OC.
I used to be good at keeping up and have become jaded and some things are slipping. See my signature line below.
Gotcha. I thought you were talking about something new; you had me worried that I missed something.
You are correct that the local jurisdictions can and do ban open loaded carry. For example, both Multnomah county and the city of Portland ban open carry with a loaded magazine or clip. I'm not sure what they have against M1's, maybe they were going after speed loaders.
I think there are a few more cities that ban open carry (Salem, Astoria?) . I think the reason for the no loaded mag thing is a work around to not totally prohibit the right to bear arms which would be unconstitutional, so they can say there "is" a way to bear arms.... but we all know its kinda pointless and actually a bad idea to carry empty let alone empty chamber.
"Hold on Mr. Badguy, I need to load my magazine, do you mind holding that pose for a second?"
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Not answering your question directly but some food for thought. As others have noted, you will not run into a patchwork of gun laws if you don't have a CHL. OFF lists about 20 areas that prohibit OC in some form. Another little discussed issue is the gun free school zone act...if you care. Without a state CHL, one is subject to the ridiculous conditions of this (e.g., 1,000 feet away from schools). True that you don't (currently) hear of folks getting charged with this, and I hope it stays that way, but if something bad was to happen in an unfriendly DA jurisdiction it could be made to be an issue.
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- Thread Starter
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Good advice
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When you mean loaded you're talking about One in the chamber not an empty magazine right?
I was under the impression your allowed to open carry in pdx/multco as long as the gun wasn't loaded.
F'ing morons. A moron also if you DO open carry in multco/pdx. Loaded or unloaded.
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ORS 166.360 - Loaded firearm definition (6) "Loaded Firearm" Means: (a) A breech-loading firearm in which there is an unexpended cartridge or shell in or attached to the firearm including but not limited to, in a chamber, magazine or clip which is attached to the firearm.
LOL. Yeah.... Last I checked, which was years ago, the local ordinance prohibited loaded clips, speed loaders and magazines on your person. But they definitely don't say anything about Fido open carrying.I was under the impression your allowed to open carry in pdx/multco as long as the gun wasn't loaded.
F'ing morons. A moron also if you DO open carry in multco/pdx. Loaded or unloaded.
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This was just given to me by Marion county sheriff's office through email:
If you do not have a Concealed Handgun License and you are in your vehicle with your handgun, you are allowed open carry in the State of Oregon where ever allowed. This means "visible to the eye an within arms reach at all times" ex. would be on the seat or dashboard. This applies if you are out walking around it must be on you visible to the eye and within in arms reach at all time, no part of a holster can be covering up the handgun. If you are in your vehicle and you want to store it away for ex if you go into a store and don't want to take with you, the handgun must be a locked box separate from the ammo. Which the ammo must be in a locked box also and both locked boxes must have a locking mechanism on them.
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Look up ORS 166.250. This will give you some useful info. Also go check out the Oregon Firearms Federation web page. They can tell you the handful of cities that passed unconstitutional laws prohibiting loaded open carry without a CHL. Easier yet, get your CHL and you won't have to fret about it.
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Carrying an unloaded pistol is like tying a knot in a broken condom. Technically it's protection but I wouldn't count on it.
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