You probably wouldn't want to bring a phone to some types of events, but as the number of these events increase, the odds of you just happening to be close to such an event during the course of a normal day might increase. Maybe it's best if we turn off 2g reception on our phones. No reason to be swept up in warrantless sweeps if not necessary.
The perfect gift. Just remember to look at reviews before you buy and test the ones you have. They do vary a lot in how well they actually work (to the point that some are so useless it would almost have to be intentional)