Since you have been a FReeper since 1998, and there have been thousands of posts addressing firearms ownership, I have to ask why you have not considered self defense up until now? Because of a threat of riots? Home invasions have been rampant for years.
I have considered self defense before. I just never bothered posting about it.
I qualified for open-carry more than 25 years ago with a beautiful Colt Python. But my wife is nervous about guns. There are likely to be thousands of others in a similar position. My wife makes a reasonably good point when she suggests that our kids are more likely to die from a gun accident than a home invasion. (I have pointed out that more kids die from pool accidents than gun accidents, but it gets trumped by the “we don’t have a pool” thing, hah hah).
At any rate, the discussion opens up with a fear-vs-fear dynamic when the SHTF scenario comes up, and this is likely to be the case in many households. So, right now, there are thousands of households having a similar discussion. They might even come to this thread to get some wisdom.