There seems to be two schools of thought here and neither one is wrong, we are all products of our life experiences and what is right for you is right for you no matter what anyone else thinks.
There also seems to be a difference between city folks and country folks, I have lived both places and one thing city folks do not experience as much, with animal control officers, is dumped pets. People dump pets dogs and cats and others in the country all the time, why they do not take them to a no kill shelter, I do not know.
This is one of the most cruel things you can do to a pet, domestic dogs and cats will be killed by coyotes or bobcats or puma or black bears, or will starve to death or freeze to death etc...Very few will survive, those that do survive will be killing and eating wild game or domestic livestock, and farmers and ranchers have the right to protect their means of making a living, how would you like it if a dog or cat caused you a monetary loss in your job or occupation, lost money is one thing but if you are operating on a thin margin, it can even take your business under. I hunt and fish and besides Thanking the Department of Natural Resources I also Thank the farmers and try to pay them something or give them some wild game for the priviledge of hunting and fishing on their farms as farmers and ranchers lose a lot of crops to wild game. Besides feeding all of us they also feed many of God's creatures.
Also living in the country, animal control if there is any, and law enforcement might be hours away, you sometimes have to do everything yourself. Also most country folks hunt and fish and also harvest as in kill and eat their own livestock, beef, hogs, chickens, sheep etc...If this seems barbaric to you and you eat meat visit the kill floor of a packing plant to see what you pay for.
Lastly I do worry about a small percentage of people legally carrying guns who might be too trigger happy and/or have unsafe gun handling traits. However I equally worry about the folks legally carrying firearms who have not come to the realization or mental decision that in order to save their life or someone else's life that they might have to take the life of another human being.
Combat, or self defense, whether civilian or military is the most error prone of environments.
Life and Death decisions made in split seconds under severe stress or duress.
I still commend them for carrying concealed, sometimes just showing a firearm will cause a threat to disarm or run away, and there is a good chance that they will carry concealed for a lifetime and never have to fire their handgun in self defence.
My nightmare is if they ever come up against a violent man who is determined to kill them, for in that split second of Life and Death, there is no time for philosophy, no time for rationalization, no time for feelings, and only time to react. And for those of you who have come to that realization,,, and you pull the trigger, possibly,,,
You still will be here.
And for those of you who have not come to that realization,,, and who hesitate and/or do not pull the trigger,,,possibly,,,
You will be dead.