mainsail,
are you never gonna be in a situation where you are gonna have to go on the offensive to win a fight? do you know that for sure? are you a sheep that waits be preyed on? ever heard of take the fight to the enemy? are you aware of your surroundings, when you are out do you constantly scan and look for things that are not right? if so then you are using an offensive tactic, otherwise you would put your horse blinders on and walk around and wait for someone to attack you and have to react. is counter ambush offensive or defensive? can it not be made either way quick fast and in a hurry in the right ir wrong sittuation?
the enemy aka bad guy already has the advantage, he is initiating the attack, what he dosen't know can hurt him in this case. ever heard of the o.o.d.a loop? if he the bg sees you have a gun and attacks anyway he is stupid, even though he knows what can and might happen however if he initiates an attack and you draw from concealment, you have a better chance of deterring him of his actions, as soon as he sees you draw your tool, that he didn't know you had.
as well with him initiating the attack, knowing that you are armed he will be alot more likely to attack at a time distance which benefits him the most, ie. right up on you, where you can't get the gun out to use it. if i was a bg and i was hell bent on attacking someone with a gun in the open, i would get close, wait till you were distracted and do any number of things.
i don't see what is so hard to understand about what i am trying to get across here. it seems like common sense to me but i guess it isn't.
you are not John Wayne, and you are not in the wild west.
maybe i am one of the few silent professionals, and i don't need anyone to know what they don't need to know.
deterrence, De escalation, and avoidance, that is what i live by.
active beats reactive.