I think if our firearms laws were different here, I wouldn't even carry a firearm if able to as an 'EDC' - I always get the impression that people do it for image more than anything else in countries where it's legal. Some kind of John Wayne complex.
True for a few folks but, not most. Texan here from the USA.
If I thought I needed a pistol to buy groceries, I would go to a different store!
That being said, with high crime and lots of bad illegals (not the economic migrants and families, but MS-13 gang members, terror watchlist people, coyotes, mules, etc.), needing to protect yourself and those you care about (family and friends), carrying a firearm has become almost mandatory in some areas.
Recreational Marijuana use also has not helped. Young people smoking marijuana often triggers mental health issues that further destroys lives. I would like to see the mentally ill treated in a mental health facility but, that isn't an option for most of them. Having personally dealt with someone who did not feel pain and was a threat to life is another reason why I carry a pistol. People carry firearms because mentally ill people have killed people who were physically unable to fight off the physical attack.
In some areas, people wear a pistol like they do a watch, so no one generally even notices. I was in-line to checkout at a Walmart with a double handful or groceries. The lady behind me started acting strange and made me uncomfortable. I asked what was wrong and she started pointing at the man in front of me with a cart full of groceries. Turns out he had a pistol on his hip. She was from California it turned out and thought she was going to be involved in some sort of shootout or robbery.
Why someone that scared didn't leave the line she was in still baffles me (were the carton of eggs and loaf bread really that important!)!
In bigger urban areas with adequate law enforcement, not a given in the USA today with the defunding of police, you don't normally see anyone "openly carrying" a pistol but, many will still concealed carry.
Personally, I prefer to be at a restaurant or store with several people carrying a pistol. That means I am generally not concerned with any evil-doers being around to cause me or anyone else harm.
I get this may seem strange to Europeans generally but, there is no reason to be scared or concerned about a responsible person carrying a firearm in public as part of their normal daily routine. Where I live is not a failed state in the Mid-East or Africa so, firearms ownership, use, and carry is not in the same "militaristic" sense it is in those areas.