So can we just assume everyone is now packing heat?
That's a good rule of thumb - it would improve your interactions with others if you thought there might be consequences.
Whenever I see some crappy person going off like a lunatic I think, one day you're going to do that to the wrong person. Last week one of the baseball dads staying at the resort had a very minor fender bender with an older female resident (in her 80s, her fault). He came raging up to her, this big huge enraged guy, screaming profanity at her......if she'd shot him in the face I'd have testified in court that she was standing her ground.
One day that guy will rage up to the wrong person and it won't end well for him.