It used to be that a concealed permit was very hard to get, and the penalty for unlicensed concealment was very high. If you traveled with a legal gun, and kept it in a bag or even on the seat but covered with a coat, you could be charged with a felony. The legal alternative was open carry. That does not mean you should bring it into Chipotle in some strip mall.
But an example is my wife. She is often the last person to leave her medical clinic, often late at night. We are in a super low crime area, but medical facilities sometimes attract addicts. She does not have a concealed permit, so she carries a pistol openly to her car.
Obviously we often carry out on the range. Our little town is full of armed people, because they are likely stopping in on the way from one isolated rural area to another, or on the way to hunt or fish.
I have a concealed permit, but have never once carried a concealed pistol in more populated areas like Taos or Santa Fe. I have the license primarily so if I do have a pistol in my pack and get pulled over, I can’t be accused of illegally concealing.
Most firearms owners, even enthusiastic ones, see the open carry activists as dangerous idiots. Open carry has an appropriate time and place. Any time you are making normal people feel uncomfortable, you are probably doing the wrong thing, even if it might technically be legal.
edit- By “range” I meant it in the sense of “home on the…” instead of target…"
