BIRMINGHAM, Mich., April 23 (UPI) -- An 18-year-old Birmingham, Mich., man said he's "100 percent" sure he was acting legally when he walked down the street with a rifle strapped to his back.
Police arrested Sean M. Combs April 13 and charged him with misdemeanors for brandishing a weapon, resisting and obstructing police, and disturbing the peace, after they found him carrying an M-1 rifle along a crowded Old Woodward Avenue, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.
The Troy High School senior, a self-described gun enthusiast, said the only way to break down social norms against carrying firearms is to open carry a gun in a public place.
Officials said it is legal to open carry a gun in Michigan.
"You can open carry, like the old wild wild West," says Michigan State Police spokesman Lt. James Shaw. "It's legal."
Birmingham Police Chief Don Studt said although Combs' decision to carry a gun openly was legal, "this guy was creating a disturbance and he wouldn't cooperate."
