How to Use open carry in a Sentence

open carry

noun
  • And the open carry of firearms on statehouse grounds was legal.
    — Javonte Anderson, USA TODAY, 10 Nov. 2021
  • The officer told the woman that the new open carry law had not yet passed.
    — cleveland, 11 Mar. 2022
  • Virginia is an open carry state; the police just stood on the sidelines.
    — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, 10 Aug. 2018
  • And the, there are 32 states that have added open carry this century.
    — NBC News, 21 Nov. 2021
  • And last year, a judge ruled open carry is legal in Florida.
    — Steve Maugeri, CBS News, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Most states allow the open carry of firearms, although restrictions vary from state to state.
    — Cliff Pinckard, cleveland, 28 Dec. 2019
  • The score includes background checks and limits on open carry assault-style weapons.
    — Philly.com, 12 Oct. 2017
  • Thirty-eight states do not regulate the open carry of guns, which means they can be worn on the hip or slung across the back.
    — John Feinblatt, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Enobakhare, the oversight chairman, noted that Texas is an open carry state.
    — Dallas News, 29 July 2022
  • It was challenged by a man who sought and was denied a permit for open carry for self-protection.
    — Tribune News Service, al, 24 Mar. 2021
  • The state also does not require a background check for allows open carry of firearms in public.
    — Emma Tucker, CNN, 19 Feb. 2023
  • Texas open carry laws do not apply to festival grounds, where no weapons of any kind are permitted.
    — Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2017
  • That policy applied even in states where open carry was legally allowed at the time.
    — Howard Cohen may 19, Miami Herald, 19 May 2026
  • That policy applied even in states where open carry was legally allowed at the time.
    — Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2025
  • All but three states allow for the open carry of handguns, long guns or both, and in many there is little the police can do.
    — Richard Fausset, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2023
  • Colorado in 2022 banned the open carry of firearms — but not concealed weapons — at polls.
    — Morgan Lee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Jan. 2024
  • In June, a federal judge ruled that Jackson could not ban the open carry of firearms.
    — Priya Krishnakumar, CNN, 28 Dec. 2021
  • The city of Denver generally bans the open carry of firearms.
    — Marlene Lenthang, ABC News, 23 Mar. 2021
  • The group and others have called for an open carry bill to allow gun owners to openly display firearms in public.
    — James Call, USA TODAY, 31 Mar. 2023
  • Wisconsin allows the open carry of weapons, which gives citizens the right to be armed in many public places.
    — Arkansas Online, 29 Aug. 2020
  • Benson also unsuccessfully tried to ban the open carry of firearms near polling places last year.
    — Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 1 Feb. 2021
  • Walmart also asked customers not to openly carry firearms in its stores, even in states that permit open carry.
    — Houston Chronicle, 7 Sep. 2019
  • Voters in the swing state of Michigan may be allowed to open carry guns in polling places on election day after all.
    — Dustin Gardiner, SFChronicle.com, 28 Oct. 2020
  • There's open carry so there are citizens with guns all over El Paso and Texas.
    — Dallas News, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Goltz owned at least one firearm and mentioned Texas is an open carry state, according to court documents.
    — Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 5 Aug. 2023
  • And their deaths are not the only two in which open carry laws failed to protect Black people from being shot by police.
    — refinery29.com, 5 July 2020
  • Michigan’s secretary of state banned the open carry of guns at polling places on Election Day.
    — Rachel Glickhouse, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2020
  • The city also recently banned open carry for people under the age of 19.
    — Romy Ellenbogen, Miami Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
  • Idaho permits the open carry of firearms, including in the Statehouse.
    — Keith Ridler, Star Tribune, 24 Aug. 2020
  • Publix says that open carry is permitted in the chain’s supermarkets.
    — Miami Herald, 13 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'open carry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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