A big talking point for detractors of well-armed self defense practices
or maybe me and Xant are just paranoiacs
seems to be the statement that if you were suddenly met with an armed foe, you would be at such a severe disadvantage that being armed is meaningless for you. That is all fine and well, but let me bring at least a little bit of freshness into "my side" of the argument.
I'll let the usual suspects handle the ideological debate, but there are potential threats aside from nasty, unsavory humans. It is highly unfortunate, but some of those nasty humans will poorly train dogs of vicious disposition. Even worse, there are the real scumbags that train the things to fight one another. Now sometimes, these "wow why don't we execute these cunts" types will allow their killer pooches to run around freely. When confronted with a pitbull looking to perforate my femoral artery, I'm NOT gonna want to rely on my own two hands, feet, and teeth to bring me through that confrontation. I'm going to want a semi-automatic pistol of no lower than .380 calibre with no fewer than 8 rounds. Those doggies can be absolute TERRORS.
And that is just a particularly horrific example. I keep muh precious chickens, as I've posted here a couple times, and I don't really want to tangle with a rabid coon or hungry coyote looking for free poultry....least, not with a bat or club. If I hit a deer on the way home and maim the poor critter, I'm going to want a method to quickly put the thing down. There are myriad uses for a good ole' rooty-tooty-point-n'-shooty aside from blasting bad guys.
That being said, I am only concerned with my own legal possession and carry of firearms. I'm in a place that is very kind to that concern. I've also never even lived in an apartment, much less actually used public transportation (lol what's that). My perspective is wildly different from others. But I adore living in semi-rural America. Least the bit I'm in, anyway.