I know a local woman that was followed by 2 Mt lions while out walking her dogs. She fired a couple shots at them, but they seemed utterly unimpressed. She wasn't a very good shot. They came within 30 feet of her.
Grizzlies have caused a fair bit of mischief. Several have been trapped and relocated within 3 miles of my house, and have run off some seismic crews a mile from where I walk daily. The recent past has shown that several people a year are jumped/mauled in this general area.
Wolves frequent the neighborhood, but we all know wolves do no harm. Other than the occasional dog they eat, sometimes while the owner is standing close by. And the livestock they kill now and then. And the lady that one stalked on a ranch, and only left when her son and a friend heard her screaming at it, and fired several shots near it. It reluctantly left. But we know they don't bother people. Ever. In North America. Mostly. Except for the exceptions. Like that jogger in Canada.
It would be tough to shoot the several rattlesnakes I kill every year without one. A sixgun is easier to carry than a shovel.
I like them. A good sixgun or rifle is a thing of beauty. I do really miss my nickel Colt's SAA. Rugers are functional, but a distant second in aesthetics to Colts.
It would seem imprudent not to carry, tho some do. Crime isn't the issue, I don't carry concealed.