Need help understanding this law.

[Contact]

The reason that I am asking this question is because I am in the process of getting my CCW (Private security companies pay better if you a have CCW), and one of the other guards told me that once you get your CCW, you can carry open so long as you are in your companies Issued uniform. I have no reason to believe they were misleading me, but I wanted to verify it anyway. I will also verify again with my CCW instructor, but i'm asking here so I have a better idea of the details on this law. I was looking over packing.org and found this:

Open carry of handguns is legal except in certain areas (see restrictions), some municipalities, and in your vehicle. However, open carry is not common, and most likely you will be hassled (try carrying openly in Detroit). Also, as soon as you get to your car you have to meet the other requirements (unloaded, etc.). It is a real hassle to carry openly in Michigan.

No license is needed to carry a pistol as long as it is exposed. However, should a person cover the pistol during inclement weather with a jacket or coat or get into a vehicle, the pistol would be concealed, and the carrier would place himself in jeopardy unless he possessed a concealed pistol license. Per Attorney General's opinion #3158, a holster, in plain view, is not considered concealed.

More Information is available on the State Police Web Site.

Does this mean that open carry is legal, but concealed carry is not legal without a permit?

I'm not really concerned with whether I can carry or not, but if I have to run somewhere after work, it would be nice to not have to run all the way home, drop the pistol off and then make another trip out where I need to go. If it were legal to carry, I would simply carry it.

[JHoek]

Does this mean that open carry is legal, but concealed carry is not legal without a permit?

yes... open carry is legal, however, many cities have ordinances which prohibit open carry and you WILL have the police called on you if you try open carry. I would highly suggest that you do not try it.

I'm not really concerned with whether I can carry or not, but if I have to run somewhere after work, it would be nice to not have to run all the way home, drop the pistol off and then make another trip out where I need to go. If it were legal to carry, I would simply carry it.

I guess I don't understand this part of the question.

[Tennsix]

I'm not really concerned with whether I can carry or not, but if I have to run somewhere after work, it would be nice to not have to run all the way home, drop the pistol off and then make another trip out where I need to go. If it were legal to carry, I would simply carry it.

Another option is changing clothes before you leave work. I have been a police officer for long time and I don't wear my uniform when I need to run errands after work; I change clothes before I leave. Moreover, my sidearm is concealed whenever I am in civies.

[PhilipCal]

Need help understanding this law

Not being familiar with Michigan Law, and it's application, I'd make the following suggestion(s). If possible, go to your assigned post in civilian clothes and change there. Keep your pistol in a case, unloaded, and in the trunk of your car. If changing at the job location isn't possible, I'd still recommend that you transport the pistol in the manner I described. As an additional thought, and you may want to check on this, it's quite possible that your company's bond or insurance, would only cover you, when you were armed on a client's property.

[Contact]

I guess I don't understand this part of the question.

Sorry, I meant that if it were not legal to openly carry, I would continue to run home, change/drop pistol off etc., and run back out.

If it were legal to carry, I would carry with me.

But as you can imagine, I don't want to get out of my truck with an empty holster, letting everyone know that A) I am unarmed and B) There is some hardware in my truck worth breaking the window over.

Tennsix, that's a good idea, but changing on-site isn't a possibility where i'm at.

[Tennsix]

Take a pancake holster and an oversize T-shirt or jacket to work-something like a baseball jersey maybe. Take off your uniform shirt and gunbelt off, wear the pancake under the shirt. You keep the gun with you, it is concealed, and are out of uniform.

Another problem with wearing your uniform off-duty is a bad guy could mistake you for a police officer.

[Contact]

Take a pancake holster and an oversize T-shirt or jacket to work-something like a baseball jersey maybe. Take off your uniform shirt and gunbelt off, wear the pancake under the shirt. You keep the gun with you, it is concealed, and are out of uniform.

Another problem with wearing your uniform off-duty is a bad guy could mistake you for a police officer.

I'll do that once I get my CCW.

[JHoek]

But as you can imagine, I don't want to get out of my truck with an empty holster, letting everyone know that A) I am unarmed and B) There is some hardware in my truck worth breaking the window over.

Why not just take of the entire duty belt, that way no one knows you got an empty holster.

I would suggest you do not run errands after work while still in uniform. go home, change clothes, drop off the heater, then go out.

As a LEO I do not run errands while in uniform under no circumstances.

[jerrymaccauley]

Does a CCW apply if you are working security, or is that only for your personal protection. I know in Florida, you can't work with the CCW, you have to get a gun permit for security or PI work.

[Contact]

Does a CCW apply if you are working security, or is that only for your personal protection. I know in Florida, you can't work with the CCW, you have to get a gun permit for security or PI work.

Well initially I misunderstood the Michigan law, thinking that we were ok to carry, because our clients require us armed.

Now I understand that you do not need a CCW to carry openly, just concealed.

The CCW is so I can carry concealed whenever I go out (to legal areas, of coarse). I just wanted to see what other "entitlements" the CCW came with, in relation to my job.

[jerrymaccauley]

Just remember, the "CC" in CCW stands for Concealed Carry. Keep it that way and no one will ever bother you.

[kingsman]

I have a michigan CPL (CCW) and I have not found any security company willing to pay me more for having a CCW. Every Security company I have talked to have no interest in whether you have the ability or not. All they want is a warm body in a uniform. While it may be legal to carry open in Michigan, I would not consider doing so. Police will certainly be called. you may be able to get away with it during hunting season, ir if you are in a rural area and police are expecting you to be armed in the woods, but no promises.

I was told in my LE academy that the gun and belt were part of the uniform, and if you walked out the door to go to work in uniform, you wore the entire outfit. There were times when I did stop and buy things either going to or coming from work in uniform, mostly gas. I do know there were other officers who did not get dressed in their uniform until they got to work, and others that disguised themselves by weaing oversized shirts coming to and from work.

It is a bit disconcerting to watch an officer walking into the office with the gunbelt slung over their shoulder, and we were told at the academy not to do it, but some of them still did it.