It's been interesting to read all these responses. I'm just beginning to consider CCW. One thing I always wonder is, how much safer am I really, carrying a pistol?
Sometimes I wonder if I'd be safer with body armor
I look at the various scenarios that get reported, like the ISIS groupie at OSU with his car and his knife. I can clearly see how that would have ended differently had the cop not been right there when he launched his attack. What if the cop had been 2 minutes away instead of 30 seconds? What if, when the cop arrived on the scene, one or two CCW carriers had been there with pistols drawn, saving lives, and the cop thought THEY were the criminals? After all, the first announcement that went out across the campus was "ACTIVE SHOOTER" when the real attacker had a knife.
Or this mall scenario. How closely involved do I have to be in a potential attack before the pistol makes me any safer? In almost any scenario, I'd have to run and/or hide. Get my kids to safety any way I can. If it's a gang fight gone wrong (can it ever go right?) I need to get as far as possible from a stray bullet--I'm not their target. The heater on my hip won't keep me safe from stray gunfire.
Or some disgruntled whacko shows up in a strip mall with an AR and starts blasting in random directions at crowds. Am I going to circle back and tack down the gunman with my pistol?
It seems that the instances in which i would actually be able to use my pistol in self defense would be an extremely small % of the total possible scenarios.