A pistol is the great equalizer - anyone has some chance of ending the fight decisively. You can and should improve that chance with training, but it starts out non-zero.
God created all men, Samuel Colt made them equal.
This may be true if the pistol magically appears in your hands just when you need it. In statistical practice you‘ll have to handle it safely for thousands of days till you finally might need it. Enough time to hurt yourself and your loved ones.
Which leaves you with the options of "good running shoes" or "plausibly deniable" items such as a big stick.
There are a vanishingly small number of countries where it is legal. If you want to know which ones, spoiler: look at stats for most homicides per capita.
Freedom!!!
Then again, they do have pretty stringent controls on even acquiring the handgun in the first place, such as proficiency exams, mandatory safety (and marksmanship) classes, background checks, and requirements for a medical certificate that says you aren't completely insane.