Yes the 1st. response would be for protection.
Not for me. Never was. Self protection was so far down on the list, where and when I grew up, no one we knew ever talked about it, or practiced it, except for a family friend who was a Deputy Sheriff...
Defensive shooting was articles in gun magazines that we usually skipped or just skimmed. Dad taught NRA Hunter Safety and from the time I was big enough to carry a box of papers to the car, I was involved (though "impressed/drafted" might be more accurate
)
The general attitude was we shot to learn how to shoot, to get better at it, for hunting and for just plain recreation. Most folks figured that if you knew how to shoot and could hit what you aimed at, you could defend yourself with a gun.
Of course, this was before guns were "evil", before they HAD to be kept locked up, before one was forbidden to let a child even see them (except endlessly on TV). also back when most people were considered to be responsible for their actions. Before helmet and seat belt laws, and back when most Doctors smoked!!
The gunracks in our trucks had (gasp!!) GUNS in them!! And it was rare that doors were locked, and never if you were home...
My folks never let us have BB guns. They thought it would promote bad habits (and looking at what some of the hooligan kids did with theirs, I couldn't really argue). My 14th birthday present was MY VERY OWN Winchester .22 rifle. My 16th birthday present was a Winchester Model 12 12 ga and a Remington .308. I got my NEW YORK STATE pistol permit at age 18.
There has been an unlocked (usually loaded) firearm (at least one) in the households of my every generation of my family since BEFORE the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE was signed.
Never shot anyone we didn't intend to, or anyone who didn't deserve it, either.
I shoot, because I enjoy it. It's what we do, and a part of who we are.
Sadly, it seems from now on, its only a part of who we were.....