> Actually brandishing a weapon, especially a shiny stainless steel one so people can see
> it - IS A POPULAR CONCEPT - but as said - someone who actually is a bad guy might
> see you playing with your gun and shoot you.

I guess I somehow wasn't clear; I'll try again. You do not pull your weapon unless you intend to shoot. However, if you pull your weapon and the other party turns and runs you don't go ahead and plug them in the back. You are not obligated by having drawn your weapon to carry through if the threat evaporates with a scream, the smell of filling pants and a beating of frightened feet.

In fact, that is usually what happens when someone draws a gun in self-defense with the intention to fire -- the other party is immediately convinced that vacating the area at the highest possible speed is the smartest action and takes off as fast as they can go.

Now, to your other points. I've had exactly one person behave rudely on a trail, and that was a mountain biker on a trail that didn't permit mountain bikes. He seemed to think I should relinquish the right-of-way, which I somehow failed to do, being a rather tired and slow old fart at the end of a long day. He said his little piece and sped away. I plodded on.

I do not normally carry when hiking, but don't mind if others do. Of course, if they carry concealed it doesn't matter what concerns others. Not my place to make their choice in that regard for them, so I don't worry about it.

I don't care whether they like blued guns or parkerized guns or nickeled guns or stainless guns. I don't care if they're carrying to protect themselves against wildlife or people or both. I only care about their actions and attitudes, and if they know how far it is to the next water, and how's that piece of gear there workin' out for ya? I've made some friends out walking in the woods. Some of them were carrying, some weren't. Didn't matter to me as long as they were good people.

And to get back to your original post, saying "you have little chance in a bad situation even if you have a gun" is not impressive to me, since you have virtually no chance without one in that bad situation. If you want to train and carry responsibly, glad to have you around. After all, it's good guys with guns who stop the bad guys with guns; the more of 'em the better.