Bodad, I was in the Army...the Infantry. Weapons are tools. What are weapons can also be tools of sport -- fencing, archery, target shooting, skeet, tossing the camber, discus, shot put, javelin come to mind. There has been a lot of glorification of weapons and even more misrepresentation of them (e.g., shooting a car in the gas tank doesn't cause the car to blow up, although all of the gas will leak out). Weapons are, themselves, no more a solution than any other tool -- a hammer, say, or a knife. You are quite correct that other things could be used as weapons. Here's a list that are right now within reach of me:

CD jewel cases
various computer cables
my belt
my shoestrings
my shoes
my ballpoint pen
the pressurized can of air I use to blow dust out of the computer
eyeglasses cleaner
a stapler
zip disks
keys
the albuterol inhaler in my pocket
a roll of nickels
books
magazines

Note that not one of these things is usually considered a weapon -- indeed, I could bring any of them (except for the canned air) on an airplane without comment -- in the case of my belt I would certainly want to do so.

Bodad, I have permit that says I can carry a concealed weapon, which is usually thought of as a pistol. I don't carry, as a rule. I have a cell phone; cops are far better armed than I could ever afford to be.

But I started shooting at 12, at targets, on a range, under VERY close supervision. Comfortable with weapons? I suppose so...they're all around me -- and you.