When the Louisiana Legislature was considering the current concealed carry law, then Governor Edwin Edwards opposed the bill, stating if one was going to carry a handgun, it should be in the open where it would be a deterrent. Open carry, of course, has always been the law in the Bayou State, and assumably has deterred a lot of criminal acts*. And Governor Edwards, once an accomplished attorney, has had his share of problems with the law, which are still ongoing. But really, folks, who is going to hit a convenience store (a typical target) where the clerk and many customers are know to carry in the open?Deterrence seems a much better "tactic"
*I am unable to find the link, but on the net somewhere is a news article about two Shreveport, LA barbers who open carry in their shop. Seems the suspects came in one day to clip the barbers instead, saw the guns, and promptly left, only to rob a hardware store down the street.