Everyone in California does not own firearms. In most areas you will not feel like you are surrounded by guns or in danger of anything. There are gangs but most people don’t live around areas with lots of gangs, They tend to be very concentrated in certain areas. I would not start getting to know the county with Mira Mesa or El Cajon. No offense to anyone who likes those areas. I think you mean Rancho Bernardo Sdlookup zip code 92127&92128. That is probably a good representation of a Middle class fairly quality area in San Diego. In fact it is more or less middle of the road in many repects.Poway,92064, is a very nice family area with a wide range of housing types.It border Rancho bernardo. These are not close to the beach(about 1/2 hour).