I voted #7, since I only want to care for hardware that I can haul around on my person or in the trunk of my car. For the purposes of individual protection, blades and bullets seem to be the most practical backup when awareness, avoidance, de-escalation, non-lethal force, etc, may be insufficient.
It is interesting to discuss what-ifs, hypothetical situations like boarding passenger aircraft while armed, but I have not seen any discussion about a possible transition from the present situation to the hypothetical (leaving aside the minutiae like AQ trying to open carry MP5s onto passenger aircraft). The questions I find interesting run something like,
What would have to happen for American culture, society and legal norms to accommodate--and wholeheartedly accept-- the widespread, peaceable carry of firearms and weapons? What are the obstacles in the way of exercising our Creator-endowed right to self-protection without infringement?
Just a few thoughts of my own: if people decided, upon their own free will, to turn the bowling alleys into pistol ranges, and turn the golf courses into rifle ranges, and decided to practice with their rifles and pistols in large numbers on the weekends and weekday evenings, instead of running up their credit card balances at the mall, wasting time sipping lattes at Starbucks or swilling beer at ball games, and we chose to mind our own turf in the 50 states without trying to police the rest of the world, AQ and their evil brethren would be decidedly discouraged from and unmotivated in spreading their terror and ideology in Texas or the other 49 states.
Unfortunately, I do not foresee any such cultural shift happening, because the vast majority of people are content to outsource their security needs. They think that paying $100-200/month for a cellular phone, home security system and OnStar in their car/truck is a good deal that provides all they need to summon help wherever they are. Most people are accustomed to seeing uniformed police or security guards in their daily lives, and they (consciously or unconsciously) think these specialists in security and violence are generally there to protect them, directly or indirectly.
Furthermore, dressing in the latest hip fashions does not work well for CCW. Training to be ready for a worst-case self-defense scenario can be a quick detour to social ostracism and being perceived as a weird, paranoid freak. Most people are not interested in hauling around an extra 3-4 pounds of gun and magazines on a sturdy belt, let alone a J-frame in their shorts pocket; it gets in the way of their iPod and an active dating life. Ultimately, many people would rather be “cool� and comfortable, rather than ready. Sage advice such as, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance,� is mentally dismissed with a cheap, “Whatever.�
I am not going to bother ennumerating the legal infringements; they are pretty well known already.
This gentleman has some very interesting observations on contemporary culture, and I think much of what he talks about--or similar--would have to happen before an individual’s right to self protection is eventually respected and accepted as it should, evolving as an indirect result of devolution of power and authority.
Mods, please move this if this constitutes unwarranted thread drift, or pm me and I can delete it.