Smart man, Batman - I don't like guns, either. But, like the badge, they provide me a means to fight crime and keep order I would not have otherwise. I'm not... bad at hand to hand combat. But I'm not great, either, and most criminals aren't so kind as to not carry weapons themselves. I'd only get in the way or get myself killed, if I went in unarmed. I'm no Batman, or even Red Robin.

And like you said - it would take years to earn trust as a vigilante. Those are years this city doesn't have, without people enforcing the laws - and we don't have enough of those, just now. Plus - I admire people who devote their lives to this. I really do. But that's... not me.