You make some good points. I meant that comment somewhat hyperbolic, but not completely. To your point, those low stats occur when everyone feels relatively safe in public. That sense of safety is eroding because of many things, but mass shooting events, and the political yammering and gaslighting around it play a huge part. So what happens in public space when people don't feel safe? How do they cope, how do they try to secure some measure of safety? Will all people arm themselves? No. Will significantly more? Likely. In a Walmart housing 200 shoppers, how many scared armed people do there have to be before one shot turns into a free for all? 3? 5? 10?
Let's also not forget that prior to the Trump administration there wasn't a rhetoric spin from an agent of government , the President no less, that suggested two things with that string of commentary. One, that the government has no interest in maintaining safety in public space so you're on your own. Two, if you carry you're a hero; ergo not only is it desirable to carry but you're a REAL American if you do.
Your rebuttal is more accurate for how things have been historically. I was looking at some shifts in public thinking, and loosely comparing them to what we've seen happen in other times and places where general safety in public space breaks down and applying those dynamics as a very real possibility to the here and near future.
We're seem to be at a Nexus point in our nation with a confluence of problems converging at once; the decisions we make in the present and near future have both more weight and consequence than the individual issues themselves.