look at the other thread about this topic from a couple months ago, its got all the statistics you would want.
in that situation yes its possible he might have flipped out more and it could have escalated. him pulling out a gun though? if either of them had one they would have pulled it out already. and i forget the numbers but when i took my CCW classes they told us the statistics but basically, when you pull a gun on someone who's threatening you, they are almost always going to back off. its very rare that they will try to attack you. and the plus side of having a gun is, if they do, you shoot them, if they pull a gun on you then you shoot them. at that point im 110% concerned with my well being and i could care less about some psycho whos trying to kill me.
anyway to put the many pages in the last thread into a summary, when more people have guns, crimes are less likely to take place because there is much more risk for the criminal. when someone is attacked, robbed, whatever, the situation is resolved without the good guy being hurt.
but really, its all about preventing the crime from happening in the first place. a criminals much more likely to rob, attack, rape etc.. someone in a city with strict gun laws where its almost a guarantee the victim isnt armed. than in some town in texas where everyone has a gun under their pillow.