Open carry has been legal in AZ for as long as I’ve been able to pick up a firearm, and I‘m sure a lot longer before that. At the end of July the new concealed carry law took effect which allows most people (felons and whatnot need not apply) to carry concealed now w/o a permit. I don’t carry every day like when I lived in my apartment but I still often carry when out running. Never know what you might run into off the beaten path.
When I was a Marine Embassy Guard in New Zealand the Diplomatic Protection Squat were the only police that had weapons issued in the normal course of their duties. However, they had to keep it in a lockbox in their car. On night shift they would often stop by for coffee and watch sports so as soon as they drove onto embassy property they would take the weapon out an put it on since they were no longer “in New Zealand.”
One day on duty at Post One, the entrance to the embassy building, a woman headed to the consulate stopped and ask me if my sidearm was loaded. I gave her that “really” look and said that of course it was and so were the other weapons in arms reach since I didn’t want to have to ask the terrorist to please wait while I loaded up before defending myself or someone else.
