TF, From the time I was fairly young, 22 / 23 I have carried. It was a part of my job as a LEO. My department "strongly" suggested that we carry off duty. It was not a mandatory thing per rules and regs and they acknowledged that there would be times where it would not be a good idea, (parties where you would imbibe, pools etc.) but all other times they wanted you to carry. Granted this was well before the invention of cell phones but even now they are still doing so. My dept was in a fairly major sized city, Tucson, and right near the border on a major narcotics route (I-19 / I-10). On duty I have been shot at, stabbed and hit with a car. The late 70's through early 90's had some bits of hazard to them and folks were often better behaved then than now.
I carried across the US after I retired when the LEOSA act was approved. I still carry today and have a TX CCW permit right next to my retired PD ID card. I have not needed to draw it but a couple times. In each case I was able to resolve the issue without firing or even showing it. My best defense is to avoid needing to use it and I use my years of being a paid "trained observer" to avoid places and people that would be an issue. On the other hand, should that fail, I would rather have it than not.
I am rapidly approaching 7 decades and even though I am in good shape for my age I am not in condition to brawl with anyone. Given today's society with kids with no discipline either deciding you have something they want or paying idiot games like the knock out "game" I will not be a willing victim. It only takes once in a lifetime for a bad encounter to happen. You cannot rely on the previous history of multiple years / decades where nothing happened to keep you and yours safe. The news has all kinds of stories where folks minding their own business became victims.
I live in a small town but still on a smuggling route for human smuggling and drugs up from the border. The local PD and SO have both handled several cases of each as well as homicides. I was on a homicide jury last November. The local PD have had a couple Officer involved shootings in the last couple years and this is a town of only 25k population, mostly retiree's.
The big city 55 miles away where we have family including grand kids has a constant litany of car jackings, shootings, drug running and just plain old gang stupidity. Gas stations are a favorite location for jackings.
Bad folks are everywhere including small towns. If you are comfortable not carrying, don't. No one is going to force you. Of course, in your state it would not be easy to get cleared to do so anyhow. Do what makes you comfortable. I do advise that you do start a state of heightened awareness of your surroundings anytime you leave your home. Look up the colors of awareness (white, yellow and red) as the books / writings about it are better at explaining it than I could be. Once you get in the habit you will start noticing things you never saw before.
