If you're going to escalate in that direction, I'll point out that an organized group of criminals will happily escalate the issue to the point where 'Just use your guns for self-defense' is not going to end in your favor.

They'll only need to make an example out of a few people to make it clear that giving in to their demands is much cheaper than fighting them.

I have my doubts about how little this scum fears death when it's really imminent eg death row; how intrinsically lucky they are to escalate and escalate, always win and never lose; and how fearlessly they react when faced with a man who hasn't crossed the law trains his gun on them, for a legitimate reason.