[Today’s run: nothing yet]
I grew up in Iowa, and I don’t remember seeing anyone carry a handgun except for policemen and security guards. Later I lived in Chicago for awhile. I remember seeing some armored car guys servicing a bank in the Chicago loop. One guy carried the bags and another guy had a large revolver, unholstered, pointed at the ground as they went into the bank. Serious business.
The recent political trend has been toward a resurgence of 2nd Amendment rights, maybe led by the More Guns Less Crime work by researcher John Lott which came out in 1998. Since then many states have loosened their handgun laws. Such loosening continues today.
In many western states it is perfectly legal to carry a handgun in a holster strapped to your side. You don’t have to have a permit or pass a class or anything. That is called “open carry”, everybody can see what you are doing.
But some people just don’t like guns and having one openly displayed changes the social interaction. So you might want to put on a jacket and cover up that gun when you go into the convenience store on the corner. BAD IDEA. Covering the gun makes it “concealed carry” and that is considered to be against the law. I think the idea there is that you could be trying to be sneaky and ambush someone by whipping out your hidden firepower.
The answer to that then is the “concealed carry permit”. To get one of those you have to go through an approval and identification process with local law enforcement. In Colorado it was the county sheriff’s office. Here in Mississippi it is the Highway Patrol. And there is a fee, something around $150. If you have a concealed carry permit you must keep your firearm concealed. If you are engaged in regular business by law enforcement, I think you have to tell them and be prepared to show your permit, etc. Nobody wants a surprised policeman. Otherwise, nobody knows, hush-hush and all that.
So if you really need to be carrying a gun you either need to have it strapped on in plain sight or have permission to carry it in your purse or pocket, backpack, whatever. But if you have one in those places, with permission, you can’t show it to anybody unless it is a dire emergency. Waving it around for no reason is called “brandishing” which is also illegal (mostly,… they tell me). If you are going to use it then you can produce it. Otherwise you shouldn’t even mention it or allow anyone to see it.
Now is that a paradox or what? Either everyone has to see it or no one can see it. And if no one can see it then you’d better have a permit for having one that no one can see.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer. I don’t know the laws applicable in your area or to your situation and you really should not rely on anything I say when it comes to lawyer stuff.