I'm a proponent of open carry. I think that the sight of guns is an effective deterrent to criminal intentions. The idea that you need to be aware of the precious thing on your hip... well, how scared are you to walk around with your pricey smartphone? Your briefcase? Your wife's purse? Your purse? Jiminy Christmas, people, you wear Nike shoes on the street where they can be seen?
There would certainly be a crossover period where the idea of seeing guns openly displayed in public caused some ruckus. But there was a crossover period where seeing women's ankles in public caused a ruckus. The sooner a thing becomes commonplace, the sooner it's...well, commonplace. If I'm the one guy in the mall with a gun on his hip, maybe I'm a target. If I'm one of 100 people in the mall with a gun on my hip, I'm a deterrent. If I'm one of 1000, I'm invisible.
You ask me, the more guns we SEE in public, the more polite society will become.