Biosophilogical said:
]No you don't, and that's my point. If your statistic is that most uses of firearms are as symbolic protection (you draw it, they go "Ah, a gun!", problem solved), then you only need to to look real. It's not like I'm saying "Start a profitable, well-publicised business for fake guns, and make it so everyone has one and cirminals realise this. You don't even need laws that allow you to carry guns. If a mugger (or rapist, or whatever) sees someone pull a 'gun', do you really think they are going to think "Oh, it's illegal for them to have that, therefore it is fake."? No, they're going to go "Oh shit, they have a gun, I was not expecting that, RUNRUNRUNRUN!". If you then had a taser that looked like a gun (or pepper spray, or something else that would actually do something if you used it), you wouldn't be stuffed if they tried to mug/rape/kill you regardless of your 'gun'. Ta-da, problem freakin' solved, fallacy my hairy, white body.
No, I'm afraid the idea of fake guns just doesn't pan out.
Look at it from an evolutionary standpoint.
Defensive coloration only works if a reasonably high percentage of the creatures that display it are actually poisonous. And even then, you'll run into predators that are willing to take the chance under sufficiently dire circumstances.
A line of fake guns is only successful if there are other people out there carrying
real guns. And, periodically at least, using them.
A fake gun containing pepper spray and/or a taser drops you into a totally different category. If your bluff is called, yes, you do at least have some recourse other than squirting water in the assailant's face, but you've also substantially upped the stakes.
If you run into someone who isn't deterred by the threat display, you're just substantially raised your chances of the encounter ending in you getting murdered, and if there's more than one assailant, a taser will do you precisely zero good, and pepper spray is, frankly, manageable for someone who really wants to see you dead. It also has a surprisingly high chance of backfiring depending on wind conditions; I've seen that happen in a rather humorous demonstration.
And again, if everyone carries fake guns, then guns are no deterrent. Hence, fallacy.