Help: TN law on open carry (rifle)

[Guest MilitiaMan]

I searched and cannot find the answer. Hopefully someone here can not only help with the answer but also a link so that I might educate myself.

 

Is it legal or illegal to carry my rifle (AR or .308) down the street?

 

And just in case anyone was wondering, not for the purposes of showing off or that "flexing my rights" stuff you see on Youtube.

 

I actually want to go walking in some public wooded areas by me and I want to start to exercise (lose weight), so I wanted to carry my gear as I would if the shtf or whatnot. At times I would have to be on public roads etc.

 

I just want to make sure what TN law says about it.

 

Thanks.

[Smith]

Why not just load the pack with the weight equivalent and avoid all the problems?

[Guest MilitiaMan]

If it's legal than there won't be any problems.

 

Just wanting to know what TN law states.

[MiddTennTaco]

Im pretty sure you can NOT under any circumstance except perhaps incident to lawful hunting...

[Smith]

If it's legal than there won't be any problems.

 

Just wanting to know what TN law states.

Yeah ... there will be.

[RichardR]

From some of the stories that have been in the news of late, I'd say it really doesn't matter what the Constitution, Fed, State or Local statute says, if you are walking around even completely and utterly in compliance with all statutes & ordinances down a public road with a rifle in plain-sight ... there is still a good chance that you'll still be contacted, harrassed, possibly even arrested &/or charged with some sort of violation of something.

Hate to say it man but I'd probably suggest keeping the rifle out of public view while walking down a road, regardless of the legality of it.

[tartanphantom]

Good thing that the rebel flag sunscreen on the rear window of my truck helps to conceal my loaded 30-30 in the gun rack. That way it draws less attention to me whenever I'm cruising through the rich part of town blasting Skynyrd on my 8-track at 3 in the morning. :jester:

 

All kidding aside, The OP's question is not a stupid one. Always better to find out for sure before you attempted it.

Edited April 17, 2013 by tartanphantom

[Slappy]

Yes it may be legal but it's also asking for unwanted attention. Just break the rifle down and throw it in your bag.

[Guest MilitiaMan]

Im pretty sure you can NOT under any circumstance except perhaps incident to lawful hunting...

 

Thank you. If you happen to run across the worded law please link me. I am still searching and cannot find the actual law.

 

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be covered under open carry, but want to be 100% sure before I head out hiking.

 

I'll wait a little bit brfore calling to ask the local sheriff dept. Sadly though, most times your get their opinion and not actual law.

Edited April 17, 2013 by MilitiaMan

[MiddTennTaco]

Thank you. If you happen to run across the worded law please link me. I am still searching and cannot find the actual law.

 

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be covered under open carry, but want to be 100% sure before I head out hiking.

 

I'll wait a little bit brfore calling to ask the local sheriff dept. Sadly though, most times your get their opinion and not actual law.

 

You're not going to find any statute in the T.C.A. It's against the law to possess or carry firearms at all in Tennessee. There are only defenses to possessing or carrying a firearm such as a handgun carry permit.

[Guest MilitiaMan]

So, according to some of you -

 

It is illegal to be in the woods, without a hunting licence, with my Savage .308 even though I am not hunting?

 

Just want to be clear.

 

Ultimately I will find actual law on this and skip the rhetoric and opinion.

[monkeylizard]

Im pretty sure you can NOT under any circumstance except perhaps incident to lawful hunting...

Not quite.

39-17-1307 makes it illegal to carry a firearm and 39-17-1308 lists the defenses to 1307. Lawful hunting is one of those, but there are several others. 1308(a )(1 ) says it's OK if the rifle, shotgun, or handgun is unloaded, not concealed, and no ammo is in the immediate vicinity. So by the law, as long as it's unloaded and you have no ammo on you, you're within the letter of the law*.

 

At the very least you're going to get hassled about it if spotted. At the worst you get a free ride, lawyer fees, firearms confiscated, and have to fight to get a suspended HCP back.

 

If it's really for the purpose you mentioned, take Smith's advice and add in the equivalent weight in some other form. ISTM that you'd have to add weight of some kind to take the place of the ammo anyway, so just do that for the rifle too. Some water bottles should do nicely.

 

 

*I am not a lawyer and there may very well be some other part of the TCA that makes it a no-no that I'm not thinking of, or some other provision that a creative officer and DA could apply. Parks, for example, have their own special laws that 1308 won't apply as a defense to.

Edited April 17, 2013 by monkeylizard

[monkeylizard]

Ultimately I will find actual law on this and skip the rhetoric and opinion.

 

You can read the TN laws here:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/

 

The ones pertaining to firearms can be found under 39-17-13xx

 

Don't stop reading when you think you've found one that says what you want to do is OK. Keep going and you may find one that says it's not under other circumstances which may or may not also apply to any given situation. Our gun laws are anything but clear.

 

Add to this that we have some AG opinions that would seem to contradict the letter of the law while having no actual cases to reference as a real-world example.

Edited April 17, 2013 by monkeylizard

[RichardR]

Unfortunately the reality at this particular moment in our nations history is "neither your Constitutional Rights &/or the laws on the books doesn't matter" the simple matter of the fact is that if an officer sees or responds to a report of someone else who sees you w/rifle in hand you'll probably be detained, harrassed, property confiscated, maybe even arrested or charged regardless of the legality, if the officer so decides.

Welcome to Amerika 2.0

[Guest MilitiaMan]

Thank you. 

 

It is for the purpose stated. I recenly purchased a 5.11  Rush Tier rifle sleeve to go on my B.O.B. I want to set up my gear and go hiking with it, ONLY if I am legally able to. I'm still going to call my Sheriff Dept. If nothing esle but to give them a heads up. They may not be the brightest bunch, but for the most part are decent folks and don't hassle you if you aren't breaking any laws.

 

It's one of the main reasons I live outside city limits, in the country.

 

Some of you may have gotten the wrong impression and thought I lived in a populated city area. No. I live out with the cows, but there are still houses.

 

Personally I could care less what people "think" is right or wrong. I'm only concerned with with what I am within my legal rights to do.

 

 

Not quite.

39-17-1307 makes it illegal to carry a firearm and 39-17-1308 lists the defenses to 1307. Lawful hunting is one of those, but there are several others. 1308(a )(1 ) says it's OK if the rifle, shotgun, or handgun is unloaded, not concealed, and no ammo is in the immediate vicinity. So by the law, as long as it's unloaded and you have no ammo on you, you're within the letter of the law*.

 

At the very least you're going to get hassled about it if spotted. At the worst you get a free ride, lawyer fees, and have to fight to get a suspended HCP back.

 

If it's really for the purpose you mentioned, take Smith's advice and add in the equivalent weight in some other form. ISTM that you'd have to add weight of some kind to take the place of the ammo anyway, so just do that for the rifle too. Some water bottles should do nicely.

 

 

*I am not a lawyer and there may very well be some other part of the TCA that makes it a no-no that I'm not thinking of, or some other provision that a creative officer and DA could apply. Parks, for example, have their own special laws that 1308 won't apply as a defense to.

[MacGyver]

You have a law enforcement badge under your avatar.  What would you do if you saw someone walking down the street in full gear with a rifle?

[Guest MilitiaMan]

I'm law enforcement, not a police officer. Even if I were, and saw him out in the country where I live and he wasn't doing anything suspicious or criminal, I might just pull along side him and see if everything is ok. Once I heard he was hiking I would let him be on his way.

 

I'm amazed at how many here would fall in line so quickly. No wonder this country is screwed.

 

 

You have a law enforcement badge under your avatar.  What would you do if you saw someone walking down the street in full gear with a rifle?

[monkeylizard]

<<nevermind>>

Edited April 17, 2013 by monkeylizard

[MacGyver]

Saving ourselves the future drama, I'm booting this user.

 

I'm not taking this action because he's talking about OC'ing a long gun.  I'm taking it because his rather adversarial posture called me to question who he really is.  Turns out he's been banned once before under the identity NYCrulesU.

 

As a general rule, once we've asked you to leave once, that's not an invitation to book another ticket to the party.

[monkeylizard]

I was wondering how long that might take. Now that you mention NYCRU, it all makes sense.

[Smith]

I'm law enforcement, not a police officer. Even if I were, and saw him out in the country where I live and he wasn't doing anything suspicious or criminal, I might just pull along side him and see if everything is ok. Once I heard he was hiking I would let him be on his way.

 

I'm amazed at how many here would fall in line so quickly. No wonder this country is screwed.

Before you go throwing rocks from your glass house, you asked for opinion and the law. In this particular instance they are intertwined, being that what is legal is not necessarily accepted by the powers that be. Whether intentionally, by malice, or by ignorance there are possible ramifications for what you are planning and that is what i opined. What is legal WILL most likely get some hassle and possibly more given certain circumstances. If you don't believe me do a quick Google search on the matter and you will find plenty of stories from around the country and even in TN where this has happened and the result there of.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I'm law enforcement, not a police officer.

Please explain?

Also, even though some things might be legal they may not be smart. There have been a few who have proven this in the past.

Think about this. In TN anyone who has a firearm on their person is breaking the law. This gives LE probable cause to investigate you to determine whether you have a valid defense to breaking that law.

At a bare minimum you will have LE make contact with you. And at that point they will be investigating a crime and looking for evidence of other crimes to charge you with. Worst case scenario you get arrested for something and it costs you thousands of dollars in legal fees. Even if I knew i was 100% right I would still hire an attorney which costs money. Even public defenders cost unless you can prove you are indigent. Then there is everything in between like citations or seizures of property.

Personally I would grab a backpack and load it down if I was training.

[gregintenn]

Saving ourselves the future drama, I'm booting this user.

 

I'm not taking this action because he's talking about OC'ing a long gun.  I'm taking it because his rather adversarial posture called me to question who he really is.  Turns out he's been banned once before under the identity NYCrulesU.

 

As a general rule, once we've asked you to leave once, that's not an invitation to book another ticket to the party.

Thank you!!! :usa:  :up:

[DaveTN]

Not that it matters now that he’s booted, but 39-17-1307 covers it.

I'm law enforcement, not a police officer.

I’m kind of curious as to what kind of “Law Enforcement” doesn’t know how to find out what the law is.

[Troutburger]

Bet he's in "mall enforcement"...