"open carry" means: The practice of openly carrying a firearm in public.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
open carry
(chiefly, US) The practice of openly carrying a firearm in public.
Seen in the wild
So symptomatic. Publix embraced open carry in Florida as some kind of signal to aggressive gun loving conservatives, but has now quietly changed their policy against open carry because, uh, well, turns out, that’s a v…
Did Publix just ban open carry in Florida stores? https://www.newsbeep.com/us-fl/260352/ ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida-native grocer Publix may have just reversed its prior policy allowing open carry in…
I thought Republicans supported open carry in all public spaces without certification, licensure, safety classes, background checks, or any cause for carrying the weapon. Suddenly, they think it’s bad because it was…
Is open carry over at Florida Publix stores? | Column
That depend on whether you have an open carry or a concealed carry licence.
Definitions
(chiefly, US) The practice of openly carrying a firearm in public.
Open-carry laws, it’s often noted, wouldn’t allow Black people to wander through the supermarket with huge guns slung over them and the confidence they could impose on others this way;
"open carry" means: The practice of openly carrying a firearm in public.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"open carry" means: The practice of openly carrying a firearm in public.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (US) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
“So symptomatic. Publix embraced open carry in Florida as some kind of signal to aggressive gun loving conservatives, but has now quietly changed their policy against open carry because, uh, well, turns out, that’s a very bad idea that is bad for people and bad for business.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Did Publix just ban open carry in Florida stores? https://www.newsbeep.com/us-fl/260352/ ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida-native grocer Publix may have just reversed its prior policy allowing open carry in…”
— Bluesky· May 2026“I thought Republicans supported open carry in all public spaces without certification, licensure, safety classes, background checks, or any cause for carrying the weapon. Suddenly, they think it’s bad because it was near a specific government building. Odd.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Is open carry over at Florida Publix stores? | Column”
— Bluesky· May 2026“That depend on whether you have an open carry or a concealed carry licence.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
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Other words near "open carry" (O)
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Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- 85%
(chiefly, US) The practice of carrying a concealed firearm in public.
- 77%
(US) The practice of carrying a firearm on a college or university campus.
- 77%
To bear a firearm, such as a gun.
- 76%
(US) The practice and legal right to carry a handgun without a permit .
- 73%
To have a weapon on one's person; to be armed.