Reminds me of an incident in Poland, years ago. A co-worker and I were sitting on the stoop of a business in the old Warsaw Ghetto when an agitated looking guy walked past. I barely noticed him and was looking in the other direction, however, my co-worker saw that he had stopped and was reaching into his waist band for something (we think it was a knife). He was about 12 feet away and coming toward us when he stopped dead in his tracks, put whatever it was away, and retreated. Nobody was hurt and nobody had to endure any legal entanglements or charges. You know how we defended againts this? We simply stood up and made eye contact. In addition, I've either defused countless situations through verbal means or, abley defended myself with my bare hands-I have never once felt the need to carry a firearm in any situation, even on my daily commute into DC.