I always thought it had more to do with a sense of personal agency than reasoned expectation of using a firearm to protect myself (or someone around me) from ha

I always thought it had more to do with a sense of personal agency than reasoned expectation of using a firearm to protect myself (or someone around me) from harm. Firearms can, in many situations, allow you to enforce your will over that of other people who may be intent on harming you or others. The thing I never quite understood is why so many of us believe they'll encounter those situations walking to train station in the urban core. So in one sense, I think I can understand the thinking behind it but at the same time think people are mistaken for how often you'll need to shoot someone while walking home in the city or in the burbs. That being said... I worked part time as an agent for a bail bondsman to pay for college and frequently carried large sums of cash with me through bad neighborhoods. I open carried with the approval of the sheriff's office and municipal police departments largely as a reminder that I could shoot back. But I never had to. The last person a potential criminal wants to shoot at is their bail bondsman... I never drew, aimed or fired my firearm in two years of working that job. In many ways I think it was like part of a "costume" that communicated I had the weight of social convention on my side.