Originally Posted by seretogis

Open-carry defeats the deterrent-purpose of conceal-carry, and could be argued to invite trouble. I recommend against it in pretty much any situation. As far as carrying so that you and your girlfriend can walk around in the dark, that could be considered "looking for trouble" if you did end up having to use your weapon on someone. Avoiding potential trouble is always the first step to any self-defense situation -- a carried weapon is not to be a first resort after you place yourself in a potentially unsafe situation.