The video surveillance systems at motels are usually the "do-it-yourself" models from Uncle Billy's Bong-in-a-Box and just show that someone took your car - Well duh - Good video surveillance is not cheap but it's still forensic in that it shows what happened and rarely prevents someone who's decided to commit a crime.

I'm licensed to carry concealed in 33 states and wouldn't hesitate a second to protect my family or another life - but wouldn't draw down on a thief in a motel parking lot or a camp ground due to the potential for collateral liability and damage and I'd never draw unless the next action was to shoot - that's a mighty big decision and as much as I like my stuff - it's not worth a life or me spending the rest of mine in jail.

Too bad 9-1-1 response is not ever fast enough...