It’s sad that these police departments are not Andy Griffith who can be civil and, like, ask why the gun. Upon which one could say for the sake of safety. How does being shirtless add to anyone’s being a menace. The popo problem isn’t just a popo problem, it is a humanity problem which is a devil problem which is a God problem. (Maybe if they did that to me I’d preach the gospel to them explaining that there is a God ready to put them in eternal bonds if they are not saved from their sins.)
I’d like to note that Andy Griffith was really not a whole lot different. He knew everyone in town, but when a stranger came through he eyeballed them a lot, and was right there if they did anything unusual.
It used to be that a lot of small towns were downright hostile to strangers, unless they had family or money, because a large percentage of strangers were up to no good, transient thieves and grifters, many of them. Even when many places were segregated into white and black parts of town, the black part was just as hostile to transient strangers, for the same reason.
In more modern times, when police stopped walking beats and instead patrolled in cars, it really didn’t change the equation except they knew fewer people, which sharpened their powers of observation even more.
So, you can afford a gun and holster, but not a shirt? Who knows if this was the police logic, more than “It’s not often you see a shirtless man with a sidearm.”