All animals, whether thugs or bears or lions, prey on the easiest target that will put up the least resistance & be the easiest to take. When have you ever heard of a gun store being robbed? A police officer mugged? After 20+ years of law enforcement I truly believe there is no better deterrent than prey that can fight back & go toe to toe with a predator. Besides, most robberies & assaults last seconds & the best agencies in the world will not have less than a 3-5 minute average response time. Do not depend on the government for anything, protect yourselves.