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Open carry is legal here in KY. I live in a very small town, where I feel quite safe, and I've thought about carrying openly, but I've never done so. Frankly, I usually only consider doing it just to "push it" a little. I'm curious about how people would react. Since I don't think that's too constructive, I don't carry openly in public. I think it most certainly should be legal, but beyond that I'm not sure how to feel about it.
For one thing, I have to agree with the prior posts which have emphasized the importance of discression. I would LOVE to think that, if we all carried openly all the time, we'd deter most crime and prove to non-gun-owners that not every person packing a pistol is about to go postal. I think Wildalaska is right, though - just because we have a right doesn't meen we should push it too hard. I don't want to see ... what was it? Crucifixes in poo or something?... that kind of thing, either, and I can accept that there are quite a few people who are just plain uncomfortable with the fact that I'm carrying. I carry concealed anytime I'm off the farm (though it's open carry the rest of the time, since I live quite a ways away from other people!), I always feel safe, and I don't freak out/scare/infuriate anyone else.
On the other hand, whether you like it or not, I think we've got to have those people who will push the envelope with their rights. I firmly believe those who want to kill our 2nd Amendment rights want to kill it with a thousand cuts. When the non-gun-owning public gets to the point at which the ONLY time they see a gun is in the nightly news graphic screaming "SHOOTING", they will only associate guns with crime. Society is largely already to that point. By hiding our guns all the time, we continue to allow that. Open carry won't solve the problem, just like artists who smear crucifixes with poo won't do much in the way of protecting the 1st Amendment, but I think there has to be some degree of pushing the envelope that we accept in order to protect our RKBA. In that regard, I don't think we should be overly PC about things - we have the RKBA, and we should celebrate it, not hide it. Some people will be rubbed the wrong way, but they'll get over it and the sun will still come up tomorrow.
I won't get into whether or not OC is more or less dangerous or risky. Frankly, I'm much more likely to get killed on the interstate by some jerk who can't drive.
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