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• open carry
  open carry

  noun

  the practice of publicly carrying a gun or other weapon that is fully or partially visible.
• open-carry
  open-carry

  verb (used with or without object)

  to openly carry a gun or other weapon in public.

open carry

¹ American  

[oh-puhn kar-ee] / ˈoʊ pən ˈkær i /

noun

1. the practice of publicly carrying a gun or other weapon that is fully or partially visible.

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open-carry ² American  

[oh-puhn-kar-ee] / ˈoʊ pənˈkær i /

verb (used with or without object)

open-carried, open-carrying

1. to openly carry a gun or other weapon in public.

   He open-carried a pistol to his daughter’s school.

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Etymology

Origin of open carry¹

First recorded in 1980–85

Origin of open-carry²

First recorded in 1985–90; open ( def. ) + carry ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

open carry open-carry open-carried open-carrying

It seems fair to say that the average American who wants to keep a handgun at home did not sign up for unpermitted open carry of an AR-15 at the zoo.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

“The historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this Nation’s history and tradition,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2026

Instead, lawmakers relaxed regulations, including allowing the open carry of handguns without a license or training.

From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2023

Lara said the proposal doesn’t interfere with private firearms training or New Mexico’s relatively permissive gun laws that allow both open carry of firearms and concealed handguns with permit and training requirements.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2023

"De cellar door is open, carry it all in and put it in de back part and nobody ain't never going to know how long it has been in dar."

From The Lock and Key Library The most interesting stories of all nations: American by Julian Hawthorne

People who live in jurisdictions with fewer than 200,000 residents, such as Baird and Gallardo, can apply for open-carry licenses from local law enforcement, but such licenses are also difficult to obtain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2023

But he could buy it at auction, lay it in an open box like a corpse in a coffin, and open-carry it to the state Capitol in Frankfort.

From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2023

Ohio was an open-carry state at the time.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 29, 2022

Even this fanatical open-carry gun website implores: “Don’t chase criminals.”

From Slate ● Jun. 21, 2022

And while the police made a show of the 151 guns recovered at the scene, bringing a firearm to Sunday brunch isn’t necessarily evidence of much in a permissive open-carry state.

From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2022

Similarly, the Senate ought to be able to consider preventing open-carried guns at government events without proceedings devolving.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 24, 2022

At a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, held in Austin on behalf of George Floyd, some protesters who'd already faced death threats were legally open-carrying guns.

From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2023

“But if it must be — and if you don’t feel comfortable, you know, I don’t know, open-carrying — ”

From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2021

“If you are open-carrying, de-escalation is more challenging because at that point you are also a threat to anyone that you come up to,” Markinson said.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2020

Last week, several shoppers came across another customer open-carrying at the same Whole Foods while he picked out asparagus.

From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2016

“Obviously, the problem is that when the open-carrying citizen is on their way to commit a crime,” Burns said dryly, “we have limited our ability to respond quickly.”

From Washington Post

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