ChrisHein

Don,

Aikido's technical syllabus is designed mostly to deal with:

You being armed and your attackers unarmed, quite likely out numbering you.

But it also has techniques to deal with:

Them armed, you unarmed.
and
You armed, them armed as well.

Jim,
I fully understand your point. And I thought about that before I posted it. However I believe it is mankind's right to be armed, and if everyone took an open stance about it, it would simply be understood. And we would no longer have to fear repercussions arming ourselves.