An article July 1st in the Valdosta Times reports one of the first (that I've seen) instances of a "good guy with a gun" confronting an "unknown guy with a gun" to verify his right to carry it.
In summary, Ronald Williams, a customer in a Valdosta, GA convenience store, legally carrying openly, went up to another man, also carrying openly, and demanded to see his ID and permit. The second man (apparently a saner and calmer individual -- there are those among gun rights people) said he didn't have to produce them. Williams then drew his gun, but didn't point it at the second man.
Fortunately, no shots were fired. The second man paid for his merchandise and left. Williams was arrested for disorderly conduct for drawing his weapon in a store. Had he been a little more macho, there could have been serious bloodshed. This was in close quarters, not in the middle of a street like what happened in New Orleans the other night, and one or both could have been killed.
As it turns out, the second man was completely within his rights: Under the Georgia Safe Carry Protection Act, which went into effect that morning, he didn't have to show any proof to Williams -- or even to a law enforcement officer -- that he had a right to carry. Scary, isn't it? In fact, the implication, as I see it, is that there's really no need for permission to carry because no one can arrest you even if you don't have it. Maybe there's something in the law that voids that conclusion, but it's not obvious to me.
But consider how frustrating this must have been to Williams. He sees someone he suspects is not a "good guy" and exercises his God-given right to protect himself (with which I concur), fortified by his Constitution-given right to carry an equalizer (with which I do not), by confronting the "unknown guy." Obviously, something about the "unknown guy" initially set him on edge. And when the "unknown guy" refuses to submit to his Lone Ranger authority, he ratchets up a notch and draws his weapon.
I dunno, but when a trained cop draws his weapon, even if it's on a suspicious traffic stop that could turn violent, they're serious.
The situation ends without violence, thankfully, but Williams finds out he can't confront a carrying individual. Well, how the HECK is he -- or anybody -- supposed to stop a bad guy with a gun if he's not allowed to identify the bad guy as a bad guy before the bad guy opens fire?
And that's gotta be frustrating for those gun-rights people in Georgia who honestly believe they're going to be safer and be able to protect their families if they have a gun to shoot the bad guy with. There's no way to tell who the bad guys are.
Not even with the supposed requirement of an open carry permit.