You might be a bit drowsy. Society, in general, EXPECTS an LEO to be armed. Do you not realize this? Really? It has nothing to do with what you think is right or wrong, or what is written down in some statute. People expect an LEO to have a gun, much the same as you would expect to see a stethoscope around a doctor's neck. It's not that the LEO has more of a right to carry....it's that his/her position in society requires that he/she carry.
Besides, I know quite a few LEO's, and none of them would even think of open carrying off-duty, so this whole argument is moot anyway. The few rookies who might want to strap their badge and gun on and go strutting around town would be quickly smacked with a healthy dose of common sense about "staying under the radar" by the veteran officers.
Right, I got that part.. I know that most off-the-clock LEO's carry concealed. Some are more deliberate than others, but most (who carry off the clock, and I know a few that don't carry off-the-clock at all) try to cover up, at least a little bit. Maybe just a jacket over their OWB holster, which is still pretty easy to see. What I don't understand is why it would be okay for a LEO to carry IWB or OWB in the store, but why law-abiding-non-LEO Scutter can't..
"Hey, are you a doctor??"
"No, but I've been trained to use this stethoscope to take blood pressure.."
"Well, I'm sorry.. you're going to have to leave.. we don't let non-doctors carry stethoscopes.."
THAT'S where I'm confused. On-the-clock LEOs, in uniform, are easy to spot. Off-the-clock, they look like everybody else. If someone complained to the manager about someone with a firearm, why should it be any different to say to the complainer "Oh, don't worry, he's an off-duty LEO" rather than "Oh, don't worry, he's a legal firearm owner with a permit issued by the state"..
If we're at the airport, an on-the-clock LEO can probably get through the metal detectors with their duty belt in place. An off-the-clock LEO can't do the same. If the rule is no firearms, then why should an off-duty-LEO get a pass while citizen Joe doesn't??