| There's a saying, "An armed society is a polite society." The reason is because of perceived threat. If very few people are armed, people are more likely to act a fool because they don't fear the consequences from npcs. Risk taking along these lines increases as does the physical delta. But as the probability of random npc folks carrying approaches one, suddenly there is a very real chance that acting a fool carries permanent consequences. Consider the active shooter in a church that was stopped in Texas by a worshipper concealed carrying. One person stopped a tragedy.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/man-who-took-out-church-gu... And now consider other situations that tend to be heated where folks overreact: road rage, etc. Folks may be less likely to escalate things when they believe the other party has the ability to respond with deadly force. This same hypothesis applies to mugging. While the mugger may get the drop on their victim, others nearby that are armed may be able to appropriately intervene to stop the initial assault. Allowing the general public to not only be armed but carry the same stopping force as the baddies reduces the imbalance, leveling the playing field. |