Here in KS, open carriage is the law, so this wouldn' t apply much to other states that are CC only, but what goes through your head when you see someone carrying (legally, in a non-threatening situation, i.e. not robbing anyone, just buying groceries) during normal errands in town??

How about certain demographics? I' m a young man, and look the part of my father' s generation with a modern day spin, what would go through your head if you saw a young man (late teens-early twenties) with porkchop sideburns, wrangler jeans, snap shirt, ball cap, and cowboy boots carrying a 1911 on his hip in the grocery store?

Or what about my old man, same clothes, almost identical, just add twenty years and swap a goatee and mustache for the side burns, and slap the same slabside on him, what would you think then?

I' ll bite, I' m curious to see where this goes...

Young fellow in the twentyish era, I would think he looks at himself as Mr. Hottie Tottie that thinks he is a bad A$$ and wants to look dangerous. More than likely trying to draw attention to himself, scare the punks and impress the skirts. Maybe running a crew or just wanting to make a name for himself.

The forties guy could possibly be an officer of some type or a skip tracer. But with no badge visible, he could just be someone that has been mugged a few times and wants to keep the idiots off him. My guess would be more than likely that it is a job related liability or protection requirement.

That is how I would look at them in the situation, so what are the real conditions? Where are you going with this one? Or better yet, what happened to whom?

For what it' s worth, pyral, I' m basically just curious as to what gun owners think about open carriage, while it' s fully legal here (as in my cenario) even most gun owners/avid shooters share the opinions you mentioned, while they' re often un-supported bias' . I often wear one or another of my handguns (being the twenty something of the scenario) and often get crapped on by the public or even by LEO' s, getting a bad wrap from today' s demographic stereotypes. I' m not out to scare anyone, nor am I looking for attention, I carry one arm or another almost everyday on the ranch, either for practical purposes or for pleasure shooting or small game hunting (rabbit season is all year round) if it should present itself, and having a holster on my hip is kind of like wearing a watch, don' t for a day and I feel naked (I sometimes hang a big multi-tool in a sheath on my hip in town so I don' t feel so awkward without it). Sometimes I' ll make a run to town to get a part, or just to get some lunch, and I get crapped on (it' s surprising how many people will yell at a guy with a gun), while my old man, the forties something in the scenario, can often carry in town with little or no distraction, even with the same arm. During deer season a buddy and I went to town to take our harvests to the processors, I didn' t want to leave my wheel in the truck, since the side window had been broken out a week prior by someone in need of a ford factory stereo, completely legal carriage, and the police were called and I spent twenty minutes dinking around with them even after I showed them my license and explained what was going on.

Why does everyone assume that everyone carrying a gun is looking to break the law, especially a younger man?? (In my experiences, young women are more often excused because it' s usually assumed to be a self defense mechanism in their case)

Legal is one thing.....socially however you need to know that carrying a gun is a sign of authority.......reserved for older folks. Your gun is a symbol of authority that people won' t give to the youth !!!

If you insist on carrying that thing.....fine by me.....but please understand the signals it' s giving.....ok? They see it as a presumption of authority......and a guy in his twenties hasn' t earned that presumption.......therefore it' s a sign of arrogance!!!!!

It goes along with the same lines as why is your auto insurance higher than a females insurance until you turn 25. Young males historically just do stupid stuff. Its in the genes and in the jeans. The many always have to pay for the mistakes of the few. Honestly it takes a level of maturity to handle the responsibilty of carrying a firearm that most youngsters don' t possess. That is one reason you can' t drink or carry until you are 21. Then again I know people that are older who shouldn' t drink, carry or even breathe.