On the way to the range, I spotted a neighbor who had wanted to buy something I had not been ready to sell, so I stopped to give him the first chance at it now that I was ready. We chatted a while, and i returned to my truck where I had to wait for a curiously hesitant driver slowly coming up behind me. What turned out to be a police car then passed, halted, moved on, started to turn one way at the corner, stopped again, and then shifted, and went the other. The oddness of it got my attention.
The neighbor knew me, we had chatted before, but his wife did NOT know me, and I had failed to cover my carry gun in the heat as i was not planning any stops on my way to the practice range and I was comfortable with this neighbor. We live in an open carry state, but I never open carry unless the reason for doing so is obvious, say, being at the range. His wife had quietly gone inside and closed the front door.
I do not know if the two things were connected, but I certainly knew they could have been. People who open carry make even ME a little nervous. If only because it seems a little brazen given how we all know some people feel. And that was the reminder, - that a lot of people, even sometimes friends who know you got your permit, are still made uncomfortable by the display or sight of a gun being carried.
It may not seem right to many, but I put a lot of effort into making my concealed carry truly āconcealedā. Not because I would be breaking any laws if someone happened to notice it, but because it makes a number of people, understandably I think, uncomfortable. While I know I didnāt do anything āwrongā In a legal sense, still I chose to consider it a mistake not to be repeated. Even around friends. It seems that even people who know you, and are fine with the fact that you carry, still can get uncomfortable if they actually see it.
I expect to be chided a bit, and fairly so, but other experiences or comments would be welcome.