barres wrote:Keith B wrote:sailor2000 wrote:Does a holster conceal the handgun if no part of the handgun is visible?
Depends. If the reasonable person defined in the statute can tell it is a holster with a handgun in it, then no.
So an OWB holster that comes down past the barrel combined with a T-shirt that covers the grip of the handgun (everything above the top of the holster), but doesn't cover the holster itself, would be concealed to you? Because how can anyone determine whether or not a holster is empty, without seeing above the topmost part of it?
I'm kinda playing devil's advocate, here, but I have thought of this very question at times where I had to disarm, but was wearing an OWB holster that wasn't easily removable. If someone saw my [empty] holster, would I have trouble until I proved that it was, indeed, empty. In other words, does the presence of a holster automatically lead to the conclusion regarding the presence of a handgun?
IANAL, but wearing an empty holster of any kind in any way is not illegal AFAIK. Wearing a holster that contains a handgun, has any part that intentionally exposed and can be recognized by a 'reasonable individual', is illegal IMO.
As for having to prove it, if a LEO sees your holster and recognizes it is exposed, then I think you will have to prove it was empty. You also might get hassled about the holster being exposed and not being able to tell it was empty. So if it was me I would do everything I could to conceal a holster, empty or full.
