Where I live in rural New Mexico, near Arizona, open carry is astoundingly common to this California escapee. The other day I had a neighbor, an electrician and

Where I live in rural New Mexico, near Arizona, open carry is astoundingly common to this California escapee. The other day I had a neighbor, an electrician and his assistant, and a gravel truck driver on my lot on the same day, and all were open carrying pistols. Three were from Arizona, one from New Mexico. People don't even blink at that around here. A concealed carry permit in New Mexico may be easier (or just possible) to get than in other states, but it still took me about 4 hours of driving, 6 hours of class time and maybe 8 hours of managing extensive paperwork. Then it expired in a year and I was faced with doing most of that over again, so didn't bother. In Arizona the only reason to get a permit is to have reciprocal rights in some other states. I just wanted one to make it legal to carry a loaded gun in my pack on hikes, mostly to defend my dog from coyotes.