It makes me feel not paranoid, but very Republican. (I live in uber-liberal Seattle.) I think packing a revolver while hiking in Alaska when I grew up helped to make it feel "normal". It felt strange to switch to carrying something so small; to this day, I don't feel like anything less than .357 is enough.
You get used to where you can't carry, and how to keep gun-hating friends & relatives from finding out. I have some friends who'd disown me if they knew, but I chalk that up to differences in lifestyle, not whether what I'm doing is irresponsible or wrong.
My wife had something interesting to say about that. She grew up (and still is) liberal, but feels that gun owners are much more responsible and grownup about firearms than antigunners. All it took was for her to take a chance to find out what we actually think & do.
Some people hate guns and think they're right, some people like guns and use them as hunting tools or a shield to protect their families, and they think they're right too. I think there is no right or wrong in this, but rather "responsible" and "irresponsible". Irresponsible to me would be waving my gun in public, or not teaching my future kids to respect guns. Irresponsible to a gun hater would be allowing the general public to own them. The truth is never simple, especially if someone is blinded by their fears.