Section 5. Except as otherwise provided in this act, it shall be unlawful for any person within this state to carry concealed upon his person or within any vehicle which is under his control or direction any pistol, revolver or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person without having a license to carry such firearm, as hereinafter provided in section 8 hereof. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and if he has been convicted previously of any felony, or of any crime made punishable by this act, he is guilty of a felony. This section shall not be construed to prohibit any citizen of the United States, over the age of eighteen years, who resides or is temporarily sojourning within this state, and who is not within the excepted classes prescribed by section 2 hereof, from owning, possessing or keeping within his place of residence or place of business any pistol, revolver or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, and no permit or license to purchase, own, possess or keep any such firearm at his place of residence or place of business shall be required of any such citizen. Firearms carried openly in belt holsters shall not be deemed to be concealed within the meaning of this section.
Section 6. Nothing in the preceding section shall be construed to apply to or affect sheriffs, constables, marshals, policemen, whether active or honorably retired, or other duly appointed peace officers, nor to any person summoned by any such officers to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while said person so summoned is actually engaged in assisting such officer; nor to the possession or transportation by any merchant of unloaded firearms as merchandise; nor to members of the army, navy or marine corps of the United States, or the national guard, when on duty, nor to organiza- tions which are by law authorized to purchase or receive such weapons from the United States, or from this state; nor to duly authorized military or civil organizations while parading, nor to the members thereof when going to and from the places of meeting of their respective organizations; nor to members of any club or organization now existing, or hereafter organized, for the purpose of practicing shooting at targets upon the established target ranges, whether public or private, while such members are using any of the firearms referred to in this act upon such target ranges, or while going to and from such ranges; nor to licensed hunters or fishermen while engaged in hunting or fishing, or while going to or returning from such hunting or fishing expedition.
Section 7. The unlawful concealed carrying upon the person or within the vehicle of the carrier of any pistol, revolver or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, is a nuisance. Any such weapons taken from the person or vehicle of any person unlawfully carrying the same are hereby declared to be nuisances, and shall be surrendered to the magistrate before whom said person shall be taken, except that in any city, county, town or other municipal corporation the same shall be surrendered to the head of the police force or police department thereof. The officers to whom the same may be so surrendered, except upon the certificate of a judge or a court of record, or of the district attorney of the county, that the preservation thereof is necessary or proper to the ends of justice, shall annually, between the first and tenth days of July, in each year, destroy or cause to be destroyed such weapons to such extent that the same shall become and be wholly and entirely ineffective and useless for the purpose for which it was [they were] manufactured; provided, however, that in the event any such weapon has been stolen and is thereafter recovered from the thief or his transferee the same shall not be destroyed but shall be restored to the lawful owner thereof, so [as] soon as its use as evidence has been served, upon his identification of the weapon and proof of ownership thereof; provided, that upon the certificate of a judge or of the district attorney that the ends of justice will be subserved thereby such weapon shall be preserved until the necessity for its use ceases.
Section 8. It shall be lawful for the sheriff of a county, and the board of police commissioners, chief of police, city marshal, town marshal, or other head of the police department of any city, county, town, or other municipal corporation of this state, upon proof before said board, chief, marshal or other police head, that the person applying therefor is of good moral character, and that good cause exists for the issuance thereof, to issue to such person a license to carry concealed a pistol, revolver or other firearm for a period of one year from the date of such license. All applications for such licenses shall be filed in writing, signed by the applicant, and shall state the name, occupation, residence and business address of the applicant, his age, height, weight, color of eyes and hair, and reason for desiring a license to carry such weapon. Any license issued upon such application shall set forth the foregoing data and shall, in addition, contain a description of the weapon authorized to be carried, giving the name of the manufacturer, the serial number and the caliber thereof. When such licenses are issued by a sheriff a record thereof shall be kept in the office of the county clerk; when issued by police authority such record shall be maintained in the office of the authority by whom issued. Such applications and licenses shall be uniform throughout the state, upon forms to be prescribed by the attorney general.
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