This is more of a state and local issue for me since variations of 'gun culture' are often a regional thing. Where I'm from (Chicago), I prefer no carry. However, if other areas feel differently about it, then I think they should do whatever they want - I just have no intention of living anywhere with open carry or concealed carry. I grew up in a "gun free zone" with low crime and I liked it. I don't necessarily want "gun free" zones because I ultimately think that that's stupid, but I don't want to live in a place where guns are everywhere.
If you live in Chicago.... well, if you live in certain parts of the city and you're careful where you go, I suppose... but you HAVE noticed that Chicago has a murder rate around 3x higher than the national average, right?
The top 20 large cities by murder rate are.... N'OrleansLA, St LouisMO, BaltimoreMD, DetroitMI, NewarkNJ, OaklandCA, WashingtonDC, Kansas CityMO, BuffaloNY, CincinnatiOH, PhillyPA, ClevelandOH, PittsburgPA, AtlantaGA, StocktonCA, MilwaukeeWI, MiamiFL, and ChicagoIL.
Atlanta and Miami are the only ones on that list with particularly easygoing gun laws.
Large cities with lower homicide rates include SanAntonio, Corpus Cristi, Austin, Arlington, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, and El Paso, all in Texas.... Memphis Tennessee; Charlotte NC; Tucson Arizona; Mobile Alabama; Jacksonville FL; Nashville TN; Greensboro NC; Las Vegas Nevada; Anchorage Alaska; Lincoln Nebraska.... nearly all of which have less restrictive gun laws than Chicago, and "shall issue" carry permits.
United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Depending on exacty how you define it, 38 to 41 state have "shall issue" concealed carry permits.... so you're limited to 9 or so states where you'll live I guess. Most of them have fairly bad crime rates.