Question: is it legal to open carry in north carolina

Answer: Yes, Open carry is also legal throughout North Carolina. In the town of Chapel Hill, open carry is restricted to guns of a certain minimum size, under the theory that small, concealable handguns are more often associated with criminal activity. No permit is required to carry a handgun openly in North Carolina. In the court case of State v. Kerner(1921) the defendant ended up getting into some type of confrontation with another man. The defendant proceeded to walk back to his place of work, get his gun, and then return to the scene to fight. The defendant ended up being charged with ``carrying a concealed weapon'' and ``carrying his pistol off his premises unconcealed,'' which violated a local act applicable to Forsyth County and ended up being a misdemeanor. The defendant was taken to trial and the trial judge then dismissed the charge as unconstitutional. The state then appealed, and the supreme court affirmed. During court, the court stated at the beginning that the Second Amendment did not apply, because ``the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are restrictions on the federal authority and not the states.'' Therefore, with that being said, it focused more on the state constitution. The state constitution states that: ``A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.'' The court viewed the provision as protecting the right to carry arms in public. Forsyth County's local act was condemned and seen as distasteful, because it ended up putting a restriction on a persons right to carry a pistol, more so an unconcealed pistol. Although, the case of State v. Kerner helped/made more clear the allowance of openly carrying a pistol, it does not preclude all regulations regarding the carrying of firearms.