Today my husband and I went out for breakfast. I was looking for something I could wear to cover up my gun, and realized that I didn't have proper clothing for concealed carry when the weather was going to be over 90. So I carried openly instead. (That's legal most places here in Nevada.) My husband was a little nervous at the idea, but understands the difference between saying that and telling his wife what to do. 
So I holstered up and we went out.
We first walked into the restaurant. Nobody commented. My husband didn't think anybody noticed, but I saw the hostess glance quickly at the gun as she walked up to welcome us and seat us. After she looked at me, she relaxed visibly. I guess overweight, middle-aged women getting breakfast with their husbands don't look threatening. We had a nice breakfast, paid and left.
Next stop was a quick run by our mailbox to pick up a package -- my new Simply Rugged holster. The kid at the UPS store saw the gun and grinned. We'd ordered and picked up ammo through the mailbox before, so he wouldn't have been surprised I had a gun, but obviously the open carry didn't bother him a bit.
Next stop was Sportsman's Warehouse, to look for a right-side IWB cheapie holster to replace the left-side IWB I'd bought by mistake last week. I checked the gun in at the customer service counter since they sell that make and model. The woman apologetically explained that policy was it had to be unloaded if open carried. I unloaded it, left the rounds and the speed loaders in the car, and when I got back, she had the gun area manager waiting to help me find a good holster.
He couldn't have been nicer, although unfortunately they didn't have any of the holster I needed in stock. (They did, however, have some 50-round boxes of Winchester Silver Spear .357 magnum self-defense ammunition in stock -- the first time I'd seen anything I could shoot from my gun at Sportsman's Warehouse since I bought it. So I bought two boxes -- yes!)
As I was checking out, an older couple got in line behind us and saw my gun. The wife smiled at me and said in an accent I placed immediately, "You get bothered much by people about that?" I said, "Not so far," and then asked her if she was from Texas, Dallas/Ft. Worth area. She laughed -- she was. I might not have lived there since 1969, but I *still* know what my fellow Metroplexers sound like. Her husband held his hands up wildly waving them, with a big wicked grin on his face. ;-)
Next and final stop was the mall, so I could acquire some proper concealed carry clothing for summer around here. A couple of people noticed the gun as we walked in, but nobody looked worried about it, not even the couple with small children who were *clearly* Californians taking advantage of the lower prices and sales taxes. ;-) Nobody commented at Macy's men's store, where we bought my husband some shirts and me one Hawaiian shirt coverup.
Nobody seemed to notice or comment when we stopped for a smoothy at the local juice smoothy place. (Not Jamba Juice, but similar.)
The checkout clerk at Macy's Women's store noticed the gun and, as I was checking out, asked if I was police or security. I managed not to laugh out loud at the idea and told her that I wasn't, just carrying for self protection, and had the gun with me so I could be sure that the clothes I was buying would conceal it properly. She seemed to think that was a perfectly reasonable idea, and had obviously encountered similar situations before.
After that, we went home.
Now, I'm not sure how my bank would have reacted if I'd carried openly there, although that's legal in this state. I wouldn't be able to carry in a government building or a few other places, but I don't go into those sorts of places often. But open carry is both legal here and doesn't seem to worry people much, at least not if you're me. My husband insists people would feel more threatened if he carried openly, but I suspect he might be mistaken.
So -- how many of you have open carried, and what experiences did you have with it?
So I holstered up and we went out.We first walked into the restaurant. Nobody commented. My husband didn't think anybody noticed, but I saw the hostess glance quickly at the gun as she walked up to welcome us and seat us. After she looked at me, she relaxed visibly. I guess overweight, middle-aged women getting breakfast with their husbands don't look threatening. We had a nice breakfast, paid and left.
Next stop was a quick run by our mailbox to pick up a package -- my new Simply Rugged holster.
The kid at the UPS store saw the gun and grinned. We'd ordered and picked up ammo through the mailbox before, so he wouldn't have been surprised I had a gun, but obviously the open carry didn't bother him a bit.Next stop was Sportsman's Warehouse, to look for a right-side IWB cheapie holster to replace the left-side IWB I'd bought by mistake last week. I checked the gun in at the customer service counter since they sell that make and model. The woman apologetically explained that policy was it had to be unloaded if open carried. I unloaded it, left the rounds and the speed loaders in the car, and when I got back, she had the gun area manager waiting to help me find a good holster.
He couldn't have been nicer, although unfortunately they didn't have any of the holster I needed in stock. (They did, however, have some 50-round boxes of Winchester Silver Spear .357 magnum self-defense ammunition in stock -- the first time I'd seen anything I could shoot from my gun at Sportsman's Warehouse since I bought it. So I bought two boxes -- yes!)
As I was checking out, an older couple got in line behind us and saw my gun. The wife smiled at me and said in an accent I placed immediately, "You get bothered much by people about that?" I said, "Not so far," and then asked her if she was from Texas, Dallas/Ft. Worth area. She laughed -- she was. I might not have lived there since 1969, but I *still* know what my fellow Metroplexers sound like. Her husband held his hands up wildly waving them, with a big wicked grin on his face. ;-)
Next and final stop was the mall, so I could acquire some proper concealed carry clothing for summer around here. A couple of people noticed the gun as we walked in, but nobody looked worried about it, not even the couple with small children who were *clearly* Californians taking advantage of the lower prices and sales taxes. ;-) Nobody commented at Macy's men's store, where we bought my husband some shirts and me one Hawaiian shirt coverup.
Nobody seemed to notice or comment when we stopped for a smoothy at the local juice smoothy place. (Not Jamba Juice, but similar.)
The checkout clerk at Macy's Women's store noticed the gun and, as I was checking out, asked if I was police or security. I managed not to laugh out loud at the idea and told her that I wasn't, just carrying for self protection, and had the gun with me so I could be sure that the clothes I was buying would conceal it properly. She seemed to think that was a perfectly reasonable idea, and had obviously encountered similar situations before.
After that, we went home.
Now, I'm not sure how my bank would have reacted if I'd carried openly there, although that's legal in this state. I wouldn't be able to carry in a government building or a few other places, but I don't go into those sorts of places often. But open carry is both legal here and doesn't seem to worry people much, at least not if you're me. My husband insists people would feel more threatened if he carried openly, but I suspect he might be mistaken.
So -- how many of you have open carried, and what experiences did you have with it?
