That's a good topic... I'll do a top 10...
1. The #1 thing I learned, and the thing that actually surprised me more than anything, is that 99.9999% of people are blissfully unaware of other people. You could stuff a bazooka in your swim shorts and nobody would ever suspect that you are carrying a bazooka. They don't look, they don't ask, and they don't care.
1B. Despite the truth of the above, persons who first start carrying seem to think that although they have hidden their Jennings .17 Mouse Gun in their pants, under three shirts, and then put on an arctic parka, that somehow every member of the general public will instantly know that they have a gun. Strangely enough, I never suffered from this particular affliction. I did, however, practice a lot in the house before I went for nachos.
2. People have all kinds of advice when you carry. Places, methods, holsters, etc. They will usually state things in absolutes. "Leather holsters are the only way to go. Kydex is all junk." The vast majority of this advice is absolutely worthless. Find what works for YOU, and once you find out what works for you, then USE that and DO that.
2B. Optionally, once you find out what works for you, go ahead and log onto Internet forums and give advice to new people in absolute terms. It helps pass the time.
3. When people do, somehow, find out that you carry, the vast majority of them will not go screaming into the night. 99.9999% of people don't actually care if you have a gun or not. They just don't care. They are neither impressed nor intimidated. You may as well have a banana in your shorts.
3B. It is not actually recommended that you carry food products in your shorts.
4. Carrying two guns is just as easy as carrying one gun and a spare magazine.
4B. Sometimes life is too short to reload.
5. Guns used for daily carry should be stripped and cleaned on a regular schedule. I do mine about every three months if I don't shoot in the middle. Magazines too. It is absolutely AMAZING the amount of lint, dust, hair of all types, string, food, boogers, sand fleas, and other assorted crap that manages to infest your gun.
5B. A clean gun is a happy gun.
5C. Inspect your weapon and magazines every day. DO NOT assume that they are OK because they were OK the last time you checked. LOOK at the thing and make sure everything looks OK. Once, I did not notice that my daughter managed to spill some coke into my Glock and holster one day until later that evening. It came out of the holster, but was sticky. How she managed to spill coke in my gun, I really cannot fathom. It had to be her, because I was drinking tea.
6. If I am dressed nicely and happen to go outside or into a store having forgotten to put on my jacket, nobody cares about my open carry. They assume I'm a detective or something.
6B. If I am dressed like a bum and try the same thing, people call the police.
6C. Open carry is dumb. Go ahead and flame me, but it's dumb. Put a shirt over it and nobody will care. You could walk around with a thermonuclear warhead in your shorts, and nobody would give a damn. Walk around with it out in the open on your belt, and someone is going to be troubled.
6D. People who open carry seem to have something to prove, or they're trying to make a statement, or some such thing like that. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
6E. The foregoing does not, of course, apply to folks who cannot conceal because of the legal issues but can open carry by law. That's kind of trixity, I guess.
7. Train regularly in every aspect of your carry. I don't go shooting in the winter, personally, because it's cold on the outdoor range...
8. Carrying a gun (or two) involves a trade-off. Access vs. concealment. The deeper the concealment, the slower the access. I, personally, would rather risk someone seeing the gun once in a while so long as I can get to it whenever I need it FAST. If I can't draw and shoot in 1 second, then the concealment is too deep, IMO.
9. If you get the permit, then CARRY THE GUN! *EVERYWHERE* *ALL THE TIME*.
10. It's important to have a family crisis plan. It's important to talk to the wife (or husband) and kids. "When daddy starts shooting, this is what you should do." I like to use communication phrases. For instance, if I say, "My neck hurts.", that means that we are leaving RIGHT NOW. If I say, "I don't want any trouble.", that means I'm about to start blasting and everyone should run the emergency plan. Things like that.
10A. When you walk with your kid, and the kid holds your hand, make sure that they aren't holding the hand that you need to draw with.
10B. Be straight with the kids. "Why do you carry a gun, daddy?" "For shooting bad people. If someone tries to hurt us, I may have to stop them." Kids understand that very readily. My daughter (at age 4) readily understood that I always have the gun, and she isn't to talk about it in public. If she needs to reference my gun, she will talk in my ear or say something like, "Daddy, your shirt is crooked."
Nio
Your CCW permit is not a peace officers commission. You don't protect anything but yourself. You are playing right into the anti's hands by taking this attitude. You have absolutely no business carrying a gun if you believe this, you are simply not mature enough for the responsibility. That is a fact. If you want to carry a gun to protect society then I suggest you apply at your local police department. The hours suck, the pay is often below what people with much less responsibility earn and for some reason there is a shortage of qualified applicants.