There are many here that believe that
I imagine there are very few here who actually believe that. Clearly many people without tactical training manage to defend themselves with firearms. Just like many incompetent drivers manage to get to work and back several times a week without killing someone or themselves.
The beauty of firearms is that they have a tremendous deterrent effect which can be quite effective even if the person holding them has no idea what to do next. But just like being a good driver will increase your safety level and reduce your chances of being killed in a traffic accident, being competent with a firearm increases your chances of using it successfully should the need arise.
And of not screwing up and making the situation worse. Which does happen from time to time.
Like the woman who shot out the tires of a shoplifter and was prosecuted. Or the people every year who accidentally shoot themselves with their self defense firearms.
...carrying a pistol does not make you safer.
Statistically speaking, the odds of having a gun save your life are pretty small. That's because the odds of being in an encounter where a gun COULD save your life are pretty small.
In other words, if there were a pill that could cure disease X most of the time, but the odds of getting disease X were very small, then the odds of the pill saving you are also pretty small. For any given person in the population, taking the pill would have very little chance of making a difference in their life because a large majority of the people in the population will never get the disease in the first place.
But that's not why people carry. Let's think about the pill illustration again, but this time let's assume that a person HAS disease X and takes the pill. Then the odds of the pill helping become very good--for that person.
The same is true with a carry gun. It's not about the overall odds of needing a gun, it's about how it improves the chances of a positive outcome IF things go bad.
Said another way, I don't carry a gun because I EXPECT to be in a violent encounter. I don't expect that at all. The odds are really good that I'll go my whole life and never need a firearm for self-defense. I carry a gun because I don't like the idea of being in a violent encounter and not having the option of responding with a firearm given that firearms have been demonstrated to be a very effective way to resolve a violent encounter successfully.