First rule of a gunfight......have one. My P32 is a constant companion. 9 rounds of 60g Corbon, easily concealed, beats the heck out of the full sized (insert large framed handgun here) left at home in the safe.
I agree that having a firearm is better than not. However, I think that, even with practice, pulling a firearm out of your pocket will never be as fast as pulling a holstered weapon when the SHTF and time is of the essence.
LW J frame with +P's and 2 speedloaders. Definition of an optimist: A guy that carrys a J frame and 2 speedloaders.
Yes, I know in a gunfight with 3 guys I probably don't have enough gun or ammo. However, anyone here think they are good enough to get 3 guys before one of them gets you?
I've been carrying a gun religiously for 30 years. Never been close to a gunfight. Hell, I used to carry a GM 1911 with 2 extra mags and had my strong hand hovering over the grip ready to draw at a moments notice.
I never needed it. I never even came close to needing it. After a couple decades, I decided my life style (no rough bars, no drug dealing, in bed every night by 10) didn't warrant being ready to have a 10 minute running gun battle.
If one studies thug vs citizen gunfights, one will find one is going to run out of TIME before one runs out of ammo.