WOW! There are some serious misinterpretations of the law being mentioned here.
Nowhere in the KRS does it state open carry is illegal, therefore it is NOT illegal.
We only have statutes that tell us what we cannot do, not what we can do. There are a few exceptions, and KRS 527.020is an exception. It informs us that carrying in ANY factory installed storage compartment is legal without a CDWL, and that doing so is a form of carry that the General Assembly has exempted from the "concealed on one's person" definition. The only reason it even states "shall not be deemed concealed on or about the person" is because they have specifically exempted this mode of carry from being concealed carry. Something else we must look at is the beginning of KRS 527.020. It states that in order for someone to be carrying a firearm concealed, it must be ON OR ABOUT the person and concealed from view. This means the firearm must be within immediate reach and concealed, or on someone's person and concealed. Since a firearm in a glove-box or console is within a person's IMMEDIATE reach while in a vehicle and also concealed, it would be considered CONCEALED carry -- by definition in the statutes -- and this is precisely why it is mentioned as being EXEMPTED from the ON OR ABOUT THE PERSON and CONCEALED definition.
Nowhere in the KRS does it state setting in a vehicle with a firearm holstered on your hip is illegal or that it is concealed carry. Nowhere in the KRS does it state a firearm setting in plain-view on your passenger seat or dashboard is illegal. It doesn't mention these actions in the KRS because they are LEGAL acts.
Just because something isn't spelled out in the KRS does NOT mean we cannot do it. If this was the case we wouldn't be able to do anything, not even set in our house, because the statutes do not specifically state that such an act is legal. The statutes inform us of what is illegal, and they also exempt certain acts that would be illegal if NOT specifically exempted. They do NOT tell us what we CAN do!
KRS 527.020 is about CONCEALED CARRY and NOTHING else! This, along with open carry being a constitutional right, is precisely why open carry is NOT mentioned in the statute.
You CAN NOT be charged with something unless the act you are being charged with is SPECIFICALLY mentioned in the KRS as being ILLEGAL! If an act is not mentioned in the KRS as being an illegal act, then it is a LEGAL act. Keeping a firearm on your belt is LEGAL without having a CDWL because an officer could move to another vantage point and see the firearm in plain-view -- plain-view means NOT concealed!