Women with protection from abuse orders carry. I know some who do. There are special purses.

People who are carrying firearms from place to place for legitimate purposes must have concealed carry permits in some states, because they're carrying firearms from place to place.

Generally, the people who will use a gun against another person are not the ones who register them. And if you have a gun, you have range, so the 2x4 doesn't work well.

Assuming that a person will shoot someone for no reason is the same as assuming that someone with a baseball bat will hit someone with it for no reason. Yet we still play baseball.

To attack someone because they have something with them that makes one nervous is not an excuse for physical attack, and is in fact a legitimate reason to be shot at.