When off duty in Virginia, I used to carry my pistol at all times. I have seen plenty of violent crimes happen first hand while out and about in Virginia and DC, and I intervened in many.
Now that I live in Vermont, I don't carry a pistol anymore. I should, because anything can happen anywhere, but there is a very different vibe up here. It's true that there are robberies of drug stores and other businesses in Vermont (usually some 20-year old white guy trying to get oxycontin or money for meth), but it is nowhere on the scale of say, DC or Northern Virginia. Specifically, one could very well be dragged from their car and beaten in DC or Virginia for "disrespecting" someone or falling victim to road rage. I don't really see it up here.
I'll leave it to the reader to decide why Vermont feels so much safer.
Side note: I still have the Mossberg Persuader ready to go in the house. Sometimes "youths" come up from New York and engage in burglary sprees.
I too live in rural VT and believe the fact anybody with a driver’s license can carry concealed leads the miniscule criminal element to think real hard. That, coupled with the fact most rural folks have been hunting since they could walk, makes it dangerous to be a thug.