General Discussion

I'd say it probably depends where. I have family out there and as such, have visited Helena, Big Sky, Anaconda, Bozeman and Whitefish. Mostly tourist areas and never seen anyone walking around with a gun. Brother in law is a gun owner, but only has hunting rifles as he does hunt which supplies a significant portion of their protein diet.

Once we visited Helena right before a relatives wedding, turned out to be a "Pride" day. Someone at the wedding later asked what I thought of it and I said "I'm from SoCal, that's just a Tuesday". He chuckled and we discussed a wine bar in downtown.

In other parts that are more rural or going to a new city for the first time, yeah I would definitely be very observant of my surroundings.

Idaho on the other hand....

When driving through, I stay in Pocatello overnight, any other stop is just for gas. I blow through the place as fast as I can. This was ages ago, but during a family camping vacation, my dad stopped at one place to pick up food, supplies, etc. After he did that, he got back in the vehicle and said he has no intention of every coming back to the state. My mom asked why, he replied "there were other shoppers holstered and had handguns in them and did not feel safe being there".