I’m not sure being afraid to use a gun is really a liberal attitude. People who grew up in a city in the north rarely had any occasion to be around guns in a positive setting, such as hunting or even plain old target practice, and it may actually have been prudent of this guy not to have a gun because I doubt that he would ever have dared to use it and the thug probably would have taken it away from him.
As for public transit, it’s good in NYC and having a car is very expensive and more trouble than it’s worth (alternate side of the street parking, heavy traffic that makes the subway a faster alternative, etc.).
So I’m not sure these are “liberal” attitudes, but just simply reflections of where the people grew up and what they’re used to. Most of them would move to similar places in other states (that is, a city with good public transportation) and probably wouldn’t be out in the country or even the remoter suburbs, so I don’t think they’d have much of an impact on small town or rural people.
In any case, with your Bronx friends, we’re talking about the middle class. On the other hand, the mega-rich who are moving out are going to continue to live as they did in New York, that is, with expensive cars, often with drivers, expensive properties, and probably even recreation such as hunting, fishing or riding, or less athletic things such as collecting cars, paintings (or even guns!). Not to mention wives...
I am. Liberalism is another word for statism ie the surrender of individual freedom and responsibility to the government. One of the cornerstones of liberty is the right to defend oneself against aggression a right specifically enshrined in the Bill of Rights. If people are afraid of exercising one of their most fundament rights, then I would say they are not truly conservative.
To put it another way how does one define a liberal? One who believes that the state is the source of all freedoms, not God and not that some freedoms are inherent. By ceeding self protection to the state, those who are unwilling to exercise their 2nd amend rights are swallowing part of the liberal line even if they think of themselves as conservatives.