To use your spare tire analogy, I have learned that it is silly to run your tires to 25% of their tread life. That is when flats happen. I haven't had a flat in decades. I've only seen one flat on a "new" tire.

But some people try to get value of the last $20 of tread. I have seen lots of those kind of flats.

To me, carrying a concealed weapon is asking for an accident to happen. I would like some stats on these stories before I am convinced that the good of carrying the concealed weapon outweighs the bad.