Since childhood (Santa brought me my first 22 at age twelve)I have owned and used firearms, trained by my father, the military, and a law enforcement academy (burned lots of ammo!). To this day, I own what my darling spouse refers to as an "arsenal," highlighted by my "precious," my cherished S&W Mod 28 in 357 Magnum.

Unless I am hunting (rarely, these days) or involved in law enforcement (none of that anymore), I think packing a firearm is just useless weight. There are far more effective signalling, food procurement, and fire starting devices available.

On the one occasion when I thought i might use my 357 for "social work", it was a non-outdoors setting (a dark Texas highway) and inadvertent display of my piece ended the encounter.

For the equivalent weight, there are many more items which will prove far more useful, like a good FAK. Fortunately, it is still a relatively free country, so we can all carry what we feel will do the job.