Regardless of what the criminal is armed with, if he is intent
on doing you bodily harm, you stand a better chance of protecting
yourself and your loved ones with a gun.
In most self-defense scenarios, the mere presentation of a firearm
is usually sufficient to deescalate the situation, without shots
being fired. It happened to a friend and me back in 2004: we were
accosted by a pair of thugs demanding cash in an isolated parking
ramp at night. We tried walking away but they trailed and then
blocked us. When they ignored demands to back off and got too
close, we both drew and presented our concealed handguns. The thugs
immediately turned tail and left the area, and we (fortunately) did
not have to discharge our firearms.
A gun is merely a tool that, in the wrong hands, can do great
bodily harm. It is also capable, as googoomuck has pointed out
above, of saving lives. If neither of us was armed that night, the
outcome might have been different, and it's entirely possible I
wouldn't be here typing this.
