1) The training to get a concealed carry will not make you more aware of danger in every day life. To think otherwise is laughable. It will make you more aware of gun safety and responsible gun ownership but it won't drastically change your awareness of situations that could be a threat. Again, for the majority of people carrying a weapon makes them feel more secure and may influence their choice to go to or stay in a place or situation that could be a threat because they feel 'protected'. Not everyone is like this but it's human nature to feel safer if you have the means to do harm to others.
I disagree, if you are serious enough to carry a firearm responsibly and get training. You, unlike most people have been coached on what to look for in a dangerous situation and how to identify it. You will also be prepared. Criminals do not like prepared people, they can almost sense them. This makes you a smaller target. Further more, most responsible gun owners do not want to shoot people, thus encouraging them to get out of dangerous situations before they become confrontations. I know that if I get into a fight that I have a gun. That alone has kept me out of fights, because I know that pulling that gun means ending a life. That is not something I want to do (but it is something I'm willing to do). Further more, you advocate carrying non-lethal weapons. This argument can be applied to them as well. You think that carrying mace doesn't give something a feeling of safety? Seems like a arbitrary double standard.
2) Yes, and your attacker will also think that you intend to shoot him. My point is that as soon as you pull out your gun the attacker no longer believes he has any option but to physically attack you until you can't hurt him. This can turn a mugging into a murder. Pulling a gun is a direct threat on their lives which is difficult for them to run away from and they will act accordingly.
I am acting, this act breaks the attacker's OODA loop and gives me the advantage. I'm not going to pull my firearm and go "well well, the tables have turned!" No, I'm going to draw and shoot swiftly like I train to do every week. I don't go to the range and drawn down and threaten my target down range. I draw and shoot. The would be mugger in this situation needs to see that I'm drawing and stop me before I shoot him. Reaction is slower than action, I practice this action constantly. I have the advantage. Further more, I must already feel like my mugger is going to kill/harm me or why would I be pulling my weapon? So that means either I try to fight him hand to hand, or I try to pull a weapon. Deploying mace, drawing a blade, using a firearm, etc all take time. I fail to see how one can be quicker to use with training than the other. My gun is in a holster designed to be quickly accessed and I practice firing from the hip. By contrast my wife's mac is in her purse most of the time requiring a length process. (Her firearm is on her hip). My knife would require me to reach into my pocket, fish it out, orient it, and open it.
3) Being maced and then beaten is less permanent than being shot. Again, pulling a gun, especially close up where the attacker has an advantage is likely to turn a situation from bad to worse. If you are free to move you're better off running. If the attacker has a hold on you it's unlikely you'll be able to pull a gun and use it effectively.
You assume he still won't kill you for attacking him? He already is going to rob you, potentially harm you, but because you didn't try to kill him, but just blind him and cause him horrible pain he will let you off with a beating? I don't buy it. Fighting back at all is a HUGE risk. I train for that risk as all carry holders should. If I was already breaking the law and you tried to stop me with mace, I'd probably leave you dead or crippled for life out of spite (How dare you think you can stop me??)
4) The vast majority of instances where it can help can easily be done by something without the downsides. A proper non-lethal method (not those cheap little spray cans, gun stores typically have multiple good reliable non-lethal methods) can be just as effective and avoids the issues that I brought up.
Again, I fail to see how any of your reasons can't be applied direction to non-lethal weapons. They are just as slow to deploy, have just as much risk of it being used against you without proper training, and still run the risk of retaliation if not successful. Furthermore there are studies that show that people who use weapons to defend themselves from violent crime tend to have better outcomes with no evidence of said weapons being used against them. Studies have also shown that areas where carry is higher have less violent crime and robberies (not including domestic violence). This is probably because criminals know these people are not easy pickings.
I'm not anti-gun and I believe they have their uses but for the average person with a concealed carry I find it far fetched to believe that they bring the kind of security that many people claim. It seems that people vastly over estimate what they'll be able to do in a real confrontation.
I agree people over-estimate themselves. I however see nothing wrong with people carrying firearms as long as they are getting the proper training. This means more than just range time. These are perishable skills and they must be regular practiced and tested in stress situations. I hit the range weekly, I also typically once or twice a month practice keeping my weapon under my control and using it in close quarter situations. I have a background in boxing, judo, bjj and amateur mma (With lots of other MA experience in less practical arts like TKD, krav, aikido, etc) and have taken those skills and applied them with what I have been taught in CCW classes to make sure that I can keep that firearm under control and use it quickly.
While it is hard to keep your weapon in your control in a grappling situation, with proper awareness, distancing, and training (which really isn't all that much) you can be sure to know when to use your weapon, how to use your weapon, and to negate may of the worries you post about. Most police shot with their own weapon are not disarmed while deploying their weapon, but rather have made bad tactical decisions that gave the offender access to their weapon before drawing it. It takes a special kind of person to keep moving forward while bullets are moving at them and a even crazier kind of person to keep moving forward while bullets are ripping though them. I train to make sure that I can draw and fire before my target has enough time to act. Hopefully several 9mm HP rounds will stop him. If not I can fall back on my other training and I have the advantage of knowing he will at least be tired from the blood loss.