CCW and modern environments
While I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I actually advise some of my students and family and friends that a firearm should not always be your primary weapon. If you use your firearm to defend yourself, you are going to be going to be hiring a lawyer and sitting in a courtroom in the very near future regardless of whether or not you were in your right. There have been several recent crime reports coming out of the Country where 14-17yr old youths were involved with violent crimes, but as in much of the Urban environments, the bad kids get played like they are the victims when a good guy uses force against them, usually police officers.
There is a reason you hear about Cops using tasers more and more. In some situations there has even been complaints that they are using them too much. If you have a means to carry mace, pepper spray or a taser, you can solve the problem, walk away and call 911 without too much to worry about in the aftermath.The reality is this, yes people can die from being tasered, or even have alergic reactions to pepper sprays and mace, I was even involved with an incident where a man on PCP actually dies from being maced, but statistically speaking, it is almost always better than if a firearm was used in these incidencies. Public places are probable the most likely places you will need to defend yourself, and even bullet you send, may not hit the bg, but may hit a wall or other person. If you are dealing with a hostile drunk or a 16yr old juvenile drugged up, your physical well being may be in danger, but using deadly force will mean hiring a lawyer and a long drawn out case.
You may seriously want to consider looking into some of the modern less-lethal options. After spending many years on the firing line, in professional situations and in casual environments, I’ve seen plenty of people pushed into firing guns that they did not feel comfortable shooting and even a handful of people that probable shouldn’t be on the firing line. I believe most of our population can handle some level of firearm proficiency, but I strongly recommend against pushing carrying firearms for novice gun owners. There are always variables we can argue about, but if I knew someone that was working late nights as a waitress or working at a bar, I would not pressure them to carry a gun if they did not have the training to use it.