1. When carrying a firearm openly or otherwise, you can not instigate, and you can not escalate. If you act like an ass then use your firearm to defend yourself, a prosecutor may (emphasis added) attempt to prove that it was your intent to bait someone into a confrontation. If you are polite and make every effort to avoid confrontation, or deescalate at every step, it would be hard to convince 12 people that you're a murderer.
2. Begin saving some money to put a lawyer on retainer ($5,000), a bail/bond fund ($3,000 minimum), and a good emergency fund ($10,000 min. or six months of living expenses). This is a good thing for everyone to do weather they carry a firearm or not, but for those who carry firearms, too often they find themselves in jams they can't afford to get themselves out of. With a moderate attorney's fee of $150/hr your $5000 retainer will only get you about 33 hours of services, so be prepared to owe them after the retainer runs out. Most attorneys will continue to represent you even if your retainer is exhausted. I believe their are ethical reasons for this and that the Bar Assn. requires it, but don't quote me. Don't call your attorney for every little question or burden them with unnecessary chit chat, it's doesn't help your case and just burns through your retainer faster. give them the facts they need to work your case. Also keep in mind that an attorney's job is to assist you in your defense, not to do everything for you. You need to actively participate. You're $3000 bail/bond fund will get you bonded out of a maximum of a $20,000 bail (15%). if you're arrested. You might loose your job or professional licenses until your case if resolved so it's a good idea to have money to live on while you defend yourself.
The reason I'm telling you all these things about money is that all to often people enter a guilty plea because they don't have the resources to defend themselves. It's a tragedy that our criminal justice system only works if you have money in the bank, but it's what we have now, so set yourself up to be a guy with a dog in the fight. Make sure you can present yourself in such a light that the prosecution believes you have the resources to make their job difficult. Prosecutors are like schoolyard bullies, they'll almost never pick on the strongest kids on the playground.
3. you should, if not already, have a CCW whether you intend to conceal or not. the biggest reason is school zones. the state doesn't enforce the federal 1000 foot rule, but the feds do. with a CCW, while it is debatable whether the feds have a case on this matter in Nevada, the CCW ends the debate immediately.
4. Be a good steward to the community. This can be anything from simply being an all around nice person to be around to volunteering your time to various charities. Make it known that people who open carry are good people.
5. Educate yourself on the law, and the US and Nevada Constitution. Often the police and others will tell you that something is illegal when it's a flat out lie, misunderstanding of the law, our an obsolete law. Some people wrongfully believe that there are places you just can't carry a gun like a bar or a bank. They think this way because in their mind, they believe that there should be a law and that because they believe there should be, they assume there probably is.
Know the difference between private property, public property and private property open to the public. Just because a place is open to the public doesn't make it public property. A private property owner can ask you to leave their private property, the police can not unless the property owner informs them that you are violating a trespass. and you have refused to leave when ordered to do so. You can not be trespassed from public property for lawful behavior.
Search and seizure. Engaging in lawful activity can not be used as reason for a warrant-less search and seizure of your person or property. A person is in custody when a reasonable person would believe they were not free to leave; If in doubt, ask, but always assume that when speaking to law enforcement that you are in custody and whet ever you say can and will be used against you; if in doubt, say nothing. Any and all times you are being searched without warrant, make it clear that you do not consent while also making it clear that you will not resist. This is why you should always have a recording device running. If you are on record asking if you are free to leave and have audio of the officer telling you that you are not he can not later claim that you were not in custody and that you voluntarily participated in his investigation. If you are on record stating that you did not consent to a search he can not go in court and say that you permitted him to search your person or belongings.
Understand that police are authorized to lie about what evidence they have against you to obtain your cooperation or confession. For example; you've been asked to voluntarily come down to the station to be questioned. You're sitting at the end of the officer's desk and he tells you to wait there. He returns with a video cassette and some file folders with your name on it. Do not make the mistake of believing the video cassette contains evidence, it might or it might be a trick. If it did contain evidence that proved you committed a crime, you would have already been arrested. The police do not question people they can already prove are guilty, if they're questioning you it's because they need you to help them convict you. If you've come this far you need to stop talking and request that your lawyer be summoned or be returned to where you were taken into custody and released.
Let me finish by saying that this little guide goes way beyond the scope of the thread, but it is information you need to know. There are people out there that don't give a good god's damn about you or your rights whose agenda is to end citizen's right to carry firearms. One day you may be the one they have their sights on. You need to know how to recognize when you've become their target and how to handle it.
