I take mine outside for some photos occasionally when the weather is right, but don't leave my yard. Or sometimes they come out while I check the mail or take out some trash or something random like that.
I have taken them down the street a few times in the past, but only to a friends house a few hundred yards away. When I took them there, I always had a snake bag ready to go just in case and I tended to keep them under my shirt as best I could and didn't go flaunting them.
It sure seems there are pros and cons to this one, and we'll never all agree. But my thoughts are: if I'm not hurting the animal, or anybody else, why shouldn't I be able to take them outside sometimes?
I liked a lot of what El-ziggy had to say in this thread and agree with a lot of it. Live and let live...