ON GOING ARMED

It has become a bit controversial to carry weapons, but I carry anyway. Openly: knife and pistol.

People who raise an eyebrow get a friendly smile and explanation.
People who whine get a polite but stern explanation.

Honestly, most people seem to assume I'm a policeman... others for reasons I cannot imagine take me for a bounty hunter. Most seem quite surprised when I say "no, sir/ma'am - I'm just a law abiding citizen exercising my natural right and responsibility to see to my own protection."

It does help to be perfectly friendly and open about it.
And it helps to get it in your bones that there really is nothing odd about going armed.
If you honestly believe it and feel totally natural about it, it seems to disarm most people's anxiety (*most* people, not all. people who carry their anti-gun obsession around like a club to beat people with cannot be reached - they have religion: shun them).

But the thing is - people who go armed in a manner or with an attitude of making a big stink about the fact that they are armed also hurt the cause. Being brassy, loud, abrasive, confrontational about it while carrying in public does not help anyone.

Save the heated arguments for the internet.
Be smooth, calm, polite, even humorous out there in The World.
If someone asks you why you carry, there's no need to thump chest and declaim from atop a soapbox - it is better, I've found, to smile and ask "don't you think I'd look silly carrying a cop around on my hip?"
From the reaction, you can gauge whether or not the person is worth further discussion.

So, anyway:
If you are going to do this thing then do it right, and do it all the way. If you decide to carry a weapon, please be responsible - and that goes well beyond knowing the rules of engagement and modifying your behavior to be more conflict-avoiding than are unarmed people.

It is a part of situational awareness I don't recall seeing emphasized, and it really ought to be:
Call it "Social Awareness."