Michigan Open Carry

What Michigan Open Carry does

Michigan Open Carry, Inc. (MOC) is a Michigan-based non-profit advocacy organization founded in March 2009 by members of the Michigan Forum of opencarry.org. It is dedicated to promoting the lawful open carry of holstered handguns and defending Second Amendment rights in Michigan, serving law-abiding gun owners, self-defense advocates, and the broader public who need education about Michigan firearms law. Its core activities are legal advocacy and litigation (including FOIA actions, preemption enforcement against local governments, and federal constitutional challenges), legislative drafting and lobbying, public education through its website, forums, and social media, and an attorney referral network for members.

MOC has no commercial product or technology stack; its "platform" is a community-led content and litigation operation built around miopencarry.org, forums.miopencarry.org, Facebook, Twitter, and email newsletters. Notable technical or operational components include a bi-weekly email update system, a Google-hosted public event calendar, an in-house press room, and a network of vetted referring attorneys. The organization has achieved several measurable outcomes: prevailing in Capital Area District Library v. MOC at the Michigan Court of Appeals (2012) with the Michigan Supreme Court declining review (2013), authoring the brandishing reform bills HB 4160/HB 4161 (2015 PA 27/28), eliminating the CPL application limit via SB 219 (2017), winning a $7,000 settlement and 177 pages of records in MOC v. Harbor Beach (2017), and prevailing in a 2025 case against the City of Wyoming on pre-application forms.

MOC is funded entirely through voluntary donations, including recurring donations, one-time contributions, and a legal defense fund; there is no disclosed pricing or membership fee schedule, and website hosting is donated in-kind. The organization is governed by an elected Board of Governors, currently led by President Casey Armitage (elected 2025), with no paid staff and no external investment, parent company, or subsidiaries.

Name

Michigan Open Carry

Legal name

Michigan Open Carry, Inc.

Website

https://miopencarry.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Michigan Open Carry, Inc. is a Michigan-based, all-volunteer non-profit founded in 2009 that advocates for lawful open carry and Second Amendment rights through litigation, legislative lobbying, public education, and a member-attorney referral network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Firearm Rights Advocacy

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAFAM

Gun Violence Prevention & Public Safety Policy Advocacy

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Civil Rights, Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations

Keywords

• Firearm rights advocacy
• Open carry education
• Second Amendment lobbying
• Gun rights litigation
• Firearm preemption enforcement

Headquarters

HQ city

Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: Organization relies on member donations including recurring donations, one-time donations, and legal defense fund contributions. Hosting donated by third parties.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Michigan Open Carry is an all-volunteer nonprofit advocacy organization that promotes the lawful open carry of holstered handguns in Michigan. It provides public education about Michigan firearm laws, engages in legislative lobbying, pursues litigation to enforce state preemption and protect gun owners' rights, and offers attorney referrals and legal resources to members.

Product overview

Michigan Open Carry, Inc. is a non-profit advocacy organization, not a product company. It does not offer a platform, software product, or commercial service portfolio. The organization provides educational resources about Michigan firearm laws, legal information and attorney referrals, legislative advocacy, and community engagement through forums, email updates, and events. There are no distinct branded products or modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Firearm Rights Advocacy Membership
• Legal Defense and Litigation Support
• Firearm Law Education and Resources

Quantifiable outcome

• Won CADL v MOC case at Michigan Court of Appeals (October 2012); Supreme Court refused to hear CADL appeal (November 2013)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Outside Legal Counsel PLC (Philip Ellison)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 December 2016Outside Legal Counsel PLC, led by Philip Ellison, represented MOC in the Harbor Beach FOIA lawsuit. Ellison's expert representation and knowledge of Michigan's FOIA proved valuable. MOC also works with Dean G. Greenblatt as corporate counsel through the same firm.
• Dean G. GreenblattcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDean Greenblatt serves as Michigan Open Carry, Inc.'s corporate counsel. He has handled landmark Michigan cases including Capital Area District Library v. Michigan Open Carry, Michigan Open Carry v. Clio Area School District, and is co-counsel in MOC, MGO & MCRGO v Benson, Nessel, et.al.
• James MakowskiminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMichigan attorney who has represented Michigan Gun Owners in cases. Handles open carry criminal cases, felony firearm cases, and self-defense road rage cases. Lead attorney for USCCA's Critical Response Team for Michigan.
• Steven W. DulanminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLaw professor at Cooley Law School with private practice. Board of directors and corporate counsel for Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners. Won civil payouts in 42 USC 1983 cases.
• Paul LedfordminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMichigan attorney actively involved in gun-related and self-defense cases since 2001. Life Member of NRA and referral attorney for USCCA self-defense insurance programs.
• Jason Gillman Sr. (rightmi.com and cu1.com)minorOthersHosting for Michigan Open Carry's website graciously donated by Jason Gillman Sr. of rightmi.com and cu1.com.
• Michigan Gun Owners (MGO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan Gun Owners filed similar suit against Ann Arbor Public Schools. MGO and MOC have coordinated litigation efforts and work together on firearm rights advocacy.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR): National gun rights lobbying organization that scores legislators, runs electoral programs, and pushes state-level reforms. Comparable pro-gun advocacy mission with multi-state reach.
• Second Amendment Foundation (SAF): National nonprofit dedicated to Second Amendment litigation and education; one of the most prolific civil litigants in the gun-rights space. Operates the same litigation-and-public-education playbook as MOC at national scale.
• National Rifle Association (NRA): Large, established national firearms rights organization with vastly broader scope, paid lobbying apparatus, and member-program infrastructure. Overlaps with MOC on Second Amendment advocacy and legislative goals but operates as an umbrella membership association rather than a single-state volunteer nonprofit.
• Gun Owners of America (GOA): National Second Amendment lobbying organization focused on no-compromise gun rights advocacy. Comparable mission to MOC at federal/national level, with active legislative and electoral programs.

Direct peers

• Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC): National pro-Second Amendment advocacy nonprofit pursuing aggressive impact litigation and legislative reform across multiple states. Similar legal-advocacy model, scope broadened from single-state to federal docket.
• Michigan Gun Owners (MGO): Michigan-focused gun rights nonprofit that has coordinated litigation and advocacy with MOC (including a parallel suit against Ann Arbor Public Schools). Operates in the same Michigan firearms-rights space with overlapping membership and legal agenda.
• Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners (MCRGO): Michigan-based gun rights advocacy nonprofit whose corporate counsel (Dean Greenblatt) and board members overlap with MOC's. Co-counsel on Moser v. Nessel and analogous Second Amendment litigation in the same jurisdiction.
• opencarry.org (OCDO): The original open-carry movement organization founded by John Pierce and Mike Stollenwerk in 2004; the Michigan Forum on opencarry.org is where MOC founders first organized in 2009. Closest ideological and historical analogue to MOC.

Regional players

• California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA): State-level NRA-affiliated gun rights organization that, like MOC, is the dominant firearms-rights advocacy group within its state (California) and pursues both litigation and legislative agendas in that single state. Useful structural and operational comparison.

Emerging players

• Students for Concealed Carry / Safer Campus Firearms Coalition: Niche advocacy nonprofit focused specifically on campus carry rights, intersecting the same preemption and Michigan K-12 carry disputes (e.g., MOC v. Clio Area Schools) that MOC litigates. Partial thematic overlap with MOC's school-carry docket.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/MichOpenCarry
• Facebookfacebook.com/MichiganOpenCarry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/miopencarry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Michigan Open Carry