I open carry daily, because that's what my job requires of me... and, my profession has definitely lost a number of officers to shots that were fired from their own guns. The simple fact remains: 1) If you can draw your gun from a holster, so can someone else. 2) If your gun is easy to draw from the holster, it will be easy for someone else who is familiar with the holster to draw the gun. 3) If your gun is hard for someone else to remove from the holster, odds are that it will also be hard for you to remove as well.
If you're open carrying with any kind of regularity, you'd probably be best served by carrying at least a Level 2 retention holster, which is generally the agency-specified minimum for most police departments. Additionally, you really ought to get some training/practice with weapon retention techniques if you choose to carry in such a manner (at least if you're carrying in a place where you expect a bad people threat to be your biggest concern -- as opposed to an animal threat).
For me personally, when I'm off-duty I'm carrying concealed. A concealed firearm allows me to outwardly appear like everyone else. I'm not immediately identified and targeted as a threat (or opportunity) by a bad guy, and I retain the element of surprise right up until the time I need to reveal it.
I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do on this subject, but these are some considerations that I hope people think about along the way. My girlfriend often open carries, so it isn't like I'm outwardly opposed to the idea categorically speaking. But, my girlfriend is also POST certified, knows a thing or two about weapons retention, and carries in a Level 2 holster. In most cases when she open carries she is doing so because of wildlife-related threats, rather than people-related threats.
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