FWIW, my observation on my tours has been that:
1. People are generally far nicer than I could have imagined especially in the rural and small town settings where I tour. I think that people tend to be at their worst when crowed more closely together in big cities. Since most of us avoid big cities when touring that isn't a problem for most of us.
2. The one guy who I met on tour that expected the worst from people was the one guy who constantly had problems with them. People tend to rise or fall to met your expectations. If you are generous, open, and friendly you will mostly meet folks who are generous open and friendly.
3. I personally have usually felt that I was safer on tour than at home, in part because I lived in Baltimore and toured through mostly rural small towns. So I figure that extra protection was not needed on tour. I'd be more likely to carry some kind of protection at home than on the road.