The concept behind concealed carry is that when the entire population COULD be carrying a gun, criminals cant possibly know who IS carrying one. This makes their job much harder and deters crime. If we wore our guns openly, criminals would know who was carrying, and would commit their crimes where there were no armed citizens. Another reason is that some criminals will target armed people first during the commission of a crime, just to prevent them from interfering. Still another reason is that in some areas (like the State of Ohio) police officers will arrest people for such things as inciting a riot or causing a panic when they see someone carrying openly, even though it is legal. Its now up to the arrestee to prove their innocence. Coupled with the fact that there are some folks that are afraid of guns and will cause an unwanted fuss whenever they see one, its better to carry concealed.