Well they can't stop you from open carrying as no law can even regulate OC and there is no law against it anyway. The closest that can happen is they can try and say you are concealing, but there is no requirement to conceal really well or any texas style bs.
Well I asked the manager when checking in what the deal was about prohibiting open carry in the park. After asking me if I was LEO or had a permit, he said "Well we've got all these cowboys, and if they see you carrying, then they'll all think they can carry too. He wanted me to keep it concealed so I pulled my t-shirt over it (printing badly), and he was happy as a clam. I should have told him, that the fact was, they all COULD carry as long as they are not prohibited persons, but I'd already ruffled his feathers a bit by even questioning the validity of his reasoning. He was a nice enough fellow, but clearly not aware of the constitutional right to open carry in Mississippi without a permit. I OC'd in Iuka without incident at Picante's Mexican restaurant (exellent), and Piggly Wiggly (very nice and polite young men).
Thanks for everyone's advice on this. We open carry in south Mississippi (along the coast - Gulfport, Biloxi, Waveland, etc) and all over Picayune, whenever we visit familyl.
Tim Brubaker (7 years in Arkabutla, MS, and 3 in Poplarville, MS)
Covington, GA