That was my take. Unfortunately way to many officers see it otherwise. I’d never carry open any way.It’s called a Wear and Carry Permit.
So it’s both no matter how many uninformed people tell you otherwise
Refer them to MD Statute 4-203 which excepts permit holders from the prohibition against the wear, carry or transport of a handgun, either OPEN OR CONCEALEDThat was my take. Unfortunately way to many officers see it otherwise. I’d never carry open any way.
When I finally got my permit, I carried in an OWB pancake at 4 o'clock, made no effort to conceal. If it was cold enough I'd wear a jacket. Went into places in Wheaton, Rockville and Silver Spring but seemingly attracted no attention - mostly grocery stores, gas stations and the like. (I've found that there's little to attract me in the area anyway.)Judging when or whether it makes sense to carry openly in any given part of Maryland is a personal judgement call once you have the permit. You definitely have to "read the room" to decide if the potential hassle is worth the trouble of showing your piece. Virtually everywhere I go in my county, my evaluation of the people around me is that there is always at least one that would make (at the very least) a scene. When we're more yonder, or on our way through VA to WV, I use a different and sliding scale depending on who's who and where's where.
It would be great if we could normalize this stuff for Maryland's hyper-Karen suburban population. But it's a generational thing, not a "now we're shall-issue, presto!" kinda thing.