yes, and obviously there are tons and tons of folks who carry concealed (with or without “permits”), and this helps us all be safer (most of the time).
but having some open carry people around makes us all safer, I believe, in that criminals can actually SEE some of the Trouble they’ll get themselves into if they assault anybody (you, me, or the store clerk)
every state that has concealed carry legalized sees a drop in robbery. FACT.
Check into what happened to Florida gun crimes (like robbery) once citizens were made legal to carry. Crime dropped big time.