When I was 11, I would ride my bike a mile and a half to school with my shotgun in a soft case. It sat in the teacher's closet until after school when I would retrieve it and go hunting with my buddy before riding my bike back home. Only trouble it caused was when the 6th grade teacher (I was 5th) Mr Wyndica asked to take a look at it. He asked what I was using for loads and I told him "#8s 'cause its all I have left." He explained how it wasn't a good idea for pheasants and after school gave me a handful of 4's or 6's 
I was a member of my high school's competition rifle team in Seattle, Washington. My high school yearbook even has a photo of us with posing with our rifles on school property. Yes, times change, but so do attitudes, and it is the attitudes that don't necessarily change for the better. In Washington State today, schools are "Gun Free Zones" by law, and yet we had a recent tragic school shooting that took several lives, including that of the shooter. Please, tell me how the legislation of "Gun Free Zones" prevented this act! Actually, no amount of legislation would have prevented this tragic occurrence simply because the shooter was not in fear of the law, nor had any intention of following the law; his only intent was to kill others, and then himself: as an aside to this tragedy, a few Washington State School Districts have trained, are are training, some volunteer school administrators to carry concealed on school grounds to act as "1st Responders" until Law Enforcement can arrive. Yes, attitudes have changed. I could go on and on, but I don't want this thread to be locked due to my views... so read on!
Washington State is an "open carry" State, as well as a "shall issue" (concealed carry) State, yet I see no citizens blatantly parading around with a firearm on their hip. I think, should the State of Texas pass an "open carry" law, it's citizens will exercise good common sense and responsibility, as do the citizens of Washington State.
