[Leica] Leica & self-defence (really rather far off-topic)

[reviews_ed.hifichoice@dennis.co.uk (Alan Sircom)]

"Aubin, Norman C" <Norman.Aubin@Europe.Boeing.com> posted the following:

When I carry my Leica, I carry my gun.  Even when I don't carry my
Leica I carry my gun.  As a law abiding adult I have a responsibility
protect myself and to explain to miscreants that their behavior is
unacceptable in any reasonable society. I cannot delegate that to a
police force who has been already assured by the courts that their
responsibility is to re-establish the peace, and not to protect the
citizen. You of course are free to abrogate that responsibility at any
time.

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While I feel the tenet of your argument has validity, I am afraid I
cannot agree. That said, I am in an ideal position to disagree as in
the UK possession of a hand-gun (even a .22) is now illegal, so
carrying one on your person makes you one of the miscreants in this
country, if only by default. And - in saying this - I am not agreeing
with the gun-control laws in the UK as I believe they are an
infringement on our personal freedom and liberty (in the past, we had
very efficient and effective licensing for pistols, rifles and
shotguns. Our current laws forbid even target pistols and are a
reaction - albeit an thoroughly understandable one - against the
Dunblaine massacre of 1996).

I still maintain that carrying a weapon is not an effective defence,
but then again no defence is an effective defence. If someone is
training a loaded gun at you, the intent is to take things from you
with menaces and not automatically upping the ante by shooting you. If
you then point a gun at someone in return, you are then raising the
stakes and it is likely that at least one of the two of you will be
shot - and, statistically, the person most likely to get shot is you.
In short, I don't believe this is a question of responsibility, but one
of simple survivability. 

But, this is so far from the Leica topic that I suggest that we agree
to differ and get back to the pictures.