Open Carry Question

[Soto]

So I live in Fayettnam and I was recently rucking after work. I was debating bringing my AR to help with getting used to rucking with a rifle but I decided not to because I didn't want to "scare" the neigbors or get pulled up on by the cops and get 8 warning shots in my face. So should I not worry about it and carry it around or should I just not bother?

[dayman]

Do you have a reason that you need to get used to "rucking with a rifle"? Upcoming backcountry hunt?
If you're just strapping it to your pack, it doesn't take a lot of getting used to. If you want to simulate the load difference without ruffling any feathers you could strap a tripod, or maybe even an axe to your pack instead.
I'm fortunate enough to live far enough out on the woods that I could strap most anything I wanted to my back and nobody would be there to notice.

If you do need to pack a rifle for whatever reason, maybe find a more secluded area to hike?

I'd say that of your first instinct is to not bother, that's probably the best course of action.
People generally (and reasonably imho) get nervous when armed men hike past their houses. Gun owners get enough bad press - no reason to be "that guy" if you can avoid it.

[dakota.potts]

A little bit of loaded language in your question. I don't know that I've seen any lawful open carriers get "8 warning shots to the face". Usually they get a talking to and get sent on their way.

What's the tangible benefit of you open carrying a rifle? If you're just trying to get used to carrying the weight, I would take dayman's suggestion.

If it's part of some survival exercise or military/paramilitary training, I might suggest just talking to your neighbors before you do it and let them know what's going on.

Lots of things can be done with an airsoft gun or even a blue gun http://www.blueguns.com/shopdisplayp...15%2FM4+MODELS

[5thShock]

Open carry of a rifle is not a trivial act and the use of a rifle for a workout instead of 7 pounds of something else does not rise to that level.

[buck460XVR]

Around here, no one would give you a second glance.

I'd check with the local authorities. If it's legal, and the local cops are alright with it, who cares if you scare the neighbors?

[tirod]

Load the ruck with something else. Concrete blocks are effective.

For those curious why - goes to only 1 in 100 having served in the military. Road marches with packs are the #1 option on the battlefield to get someplace, we don't have a motorcycle for every soldier in the force. You navigate cross country with 85 pounds of field gear and it's not a casual walk around the block.

For someone who's trying to keep up to combat reality, a ruck march is the preferred method. It's just going to look menacing to the public - they don't have a clue about what the job entails and can't see the point. I would pick what pack you choose with care, as anything military frightens the local fobbits. Even around Fayette.

Those who do hike - like, for days at a time, or even take the Appalachian Trail, it's a no brainer. Same as running a minimum of 6 miles daily and a marathon every weekend to run Boston.

At one time I was healthy enough to run the 12 mile EIB road march under the clock with the required ruck and rubber rifle. That was 32 years ago. Nobody thought much about practicing for it to stay in shape at 5k runs locally - but back then, 1 in 10 had served, so you got a wave every now and then, with a thumbs up.

Now? 8 shots to the face and a stern talking to? This isn't the country I planned to grow old in.

[Doyle]

One more thing. The act of walking around in public woods with a rifle outside of hunting season may very well involve you having to convince a game warden that you aren't in fact poaching.

Their line of thinking is going to be that you have a weapon usable for hunting more than self-defense and you are carrying it in the woods outside of hunting season.

[str8tshot]

A ruck march without a rifle is way different than a ruck march with a rifle. Strapping it to your pack is for cross country stuff, not ruck marches. If the law in NC allows it do it. If not, try a blue gun of same size and shape.

[DaleA]

Are there people that just like to use the word 'ruck'?

[chris in va]

Doesn't NC have some sort of weird 'going armed to the terror of the people' clause?

Frankly I wouldn't do it, despite my general support of OC.

[g.willikers]

These days, anything that looks like a gun is likely to get unwanted attention.
Blue gun, airsoft, real gun, all look too much the same to a lot of folks.
Especially the kind that would call 911.
Probably better to use something else for the exercise.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

That's a good point. There is the pragmatic and the normative.

Normative - it may be legal, you may have the right. You want to exercise the right.

Pragmatic:

1. Someone calls cops

2. Someone challenges you and the argument gets heated. Bang, bang - see the video of the OC guy getting tackled in Walmart. The tackler was wrong but the OC guy got a pragmatic trip to the floor. My research class did a little project asking if a OC Chipolte type game into a restaurant and a CHL shot him - how would they penalize the CHL. The CHL type rationalized it could have been a rampage shooter. The outcome - the sample they tested weren't really upset, they tended towards not guilty or a minimum sentence. Not a large study but a class project.

3. The cops show and rather than going three cheers for the RKBA, they just shoot you as happened to the WalMart guy with the toy gun or the kid with the airsoft. You can argue they were threatening the cops but one never knows how your action might be interpreted.

That's my take.

[Snyper]

Some NC counties have laws about needing written permission to be on anothers land with a firearm that could be used for hunting.

Most counties have laws about loaded guns on a road's right of way.

What Doyle said about possible poaching was the first thing I thought upon reading the OP

[jasmith85]

I am lucky enough to be in an area that I doubt anyone would give it a second thought as long as you don't look like a meth head. That said, I still wouldn't do it. All it takes is one person to get the wrong idea and it becomes a lot of trouble.

[dakota1911]

If you decide to do it maybe have a good story like you are hunting coyotes or something like that if/when people/cops ask.

[4thPoint]

Reminds me of living in a trailer park out the back gate while going through SFQC. My solution was to go to a used sporting goods store and pick up a used weight set (or for that matter a new barbell bar ) for a couple bucks.

Figure on 2.5-3lbs per foot and cut to a bit heavier than you really want. Find a friend with a Sawzall or build your biceps cutting it down to a moderate length and wrap it with Hockey tape to cut down the shine. That unfriendly shape works great to build your grip.





You could also go super cheap and get water pipe threaded on both ends and filled with your choice of weight, packing foam, peas, sand, ..... lead shot.

[Sharkbite]

^^^THIS^^^
Dont jeopardize your chance of going thru selection by getting into a legal jam for carring a rifle around. We are not just talking civilian law here but the military mindset.

Getting a beef off base in what appears to be a bad judgement call would kill your chances (depending on unit) of even making it into a selection course.

[Snyper]

If you decide to do it maybe have a good story like you are hunting coyotes or something like that if/when people/cops ask.

That will work fine, right up to the point when they want to see the written permission to hunt from the property owners

[Sequins]

If you have to ask, you know the answer. A free man doesn't ask himself whether his actions are legal but rather whether they are righteous.

A rifle in public is scary. As a pro-oc guy I'd still have my eyes locked on the rifleman if I was walking my suburban street. Imagine if the first gun someone has ever seen in real life is the AR-15 on your back? It's just not a great idea to bear rifles in public in my opinion unless you live in an area where that's commonplace.

[colbad]

Sounds like you are more interested in pushing a point that the actual benefits of carrying the rifle. You obviously expect to scare some so why push the issue? Many ways to simulate the rifle...which as others pointed out, is not all that critical to prep for rucking.

[RangerHAAF]

What do the laws say? I live in Georgia and I could care less if some nosy person calls the cops as it is illegal for them to stop and detain a person to see if he has a carry license. Cops have no authority outside of making an arrest to say anything to a person about his guns, to do so authorizes a civil lawsuit in state court.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

The OP hasn't come back, so let this one die, folks.