Haha, I think I was about as far from the 'Dog' image as possible, t-shirt and clean non-ripped up jeans, Converse hi-tops, short(ish) hair, buckling two <4 year old girls into a mini-van.
It does bring up an interesting point about how the common public views us as open carriers, and is one of the reasons I carry. The more we can 'normalize' carrying, and the more comfortable people are with it, the more support we can get against the hardcore 'anti' people.
This is a point I have been "preaching" for many years. The general public doesn't have anything to evaluate a person on other than their appearance and behavior. The first to be noticed is usually appearance, followed by behavior, speech, and actions. It is recognized that we are a society of individuals and everyone is free to express themselves through dress and speech.
One factor to consider while "being an individual and expressing yourself" is the fact that some behavior, appearance, and speech can cause (that's cause, not warrant) concern. Wen you go out in public trying to emulate your favorite movie action figure or "pop culture" star, you may trigger an alarm in some. Not all people meeting someone who shaves their head, sports tattoos, piercings, etc. will think first of the nice mild mannered individual you are, they often think first of the character who has popularized this style of dress on the TV or Movie screen and the persona they play. It's a natural reaction. Speech is also a measure that the public uses to gauge one's character. If you walk down the street having a loud, spirited conversation, with your friends and your vocabulary is limited to four-letter words or popular slang then again, that's another "measure" that society uses to size one up.
Add to all the above a firearm and SOME people get real uneasy. Not that people who are described above are anything other than nice, well mannered, productive citizens, the average person seeing them for the first time have no other means of deciding to get to know them or "head the other way".
By no means do I condemn anyone who dresses or expresses themselves in an individual manner. I merely want to point out that sometimes they may meet adverse reactions. Something to consider, especially when open carrying. It isn't always the gun that alarms people, it is the total package.
