I want to bring something to "listen" to: Hearing loss in a gun fight is always a possibility, but so is death. which do you prefer?
All the dark humor aside, if you are going to shoot large amounts of ammo of any caliber in closed quarters without proper hearing protection then hearing loss will be your reward. If you just plinking in a indoor or outdoor range, best believe I will use ear protection.
In a real time shooting situation (i.e. combat) you need to hear whats coming your way so take the ringing in your ears. You can live and complain about it later.