Exactly how often do armed race riots sweep through your neighborhood anyway?
Natural disasters bring similar problems. Any breakdown of civil order can lead to a situation where rifles are a neighborhood's best defense.
It's always a good idea to be prepared. How many times has your house been on fire? Is that a reason not to own a fire extinguisher?
Because from where I'm sitting, anyone believing that keeping a gun around will ward away crime like a tiger-repelling rock ...
I agree that's ridiculous, as ridiculous as believing a fire extinguisher wards away fires, but thankfully almost no gun owner actually believes that owning a gun wards away crime.
All the gun owners I know believe that being armed, trained, and mentally prepared to act (including for home defense actually wargaming intrusion scenarios) improve the odds of survival during a break-in. We do not see our weapons as talismans or totems but as tools.
All responsible gun owners know that training is what makes the difference. Most of us who have faced a situation have faced attackers armed with guns (mine was armed with a screwdriver). We survive these encounters because we train and prepare for them.
Actually, besides criminals there is another large category of "irresponsible" (more like "disinterested") gun owners, people who happened into their weapons and treat them as furniture or valuable heirlooms without ever firing them or training on them. I've known a few widows who inherited their husband's weapons who have never handled a firearm their entire lives. "Oh, that's Hank's gun." But they don't think keeping their departed husband's weapons around wards away crime, either.
I'll admit I'm guilty of this myself ...
This is America. There is no shame in owning a firearm. You should learn to use it properly, as it might save your life or the life of someone you care about one day.