The US has gone paranoid expeditionary since decades, that's very hard psycological problem to recover from. Often outcome is spiral till weak and ultimately dead. Armed revolutions are possible if needed. The naysayers have relic notions of quaint little firing lines in pretty colors with cannon versus A-10. They cannot comprehend guerilla warfare, defections, leaks, silent disaffected sleepers picking away at the top, sabotage, siege upon supplies to elite in bunkers, so many ways. They should grok this, after all they see it on the news since decades of Vietnam and IQ beyond. Some euros have some more pragmatic govt's, small more intimate, mostly they just vote, even China India is progress evident. US is more idealogic, flaky risky scary, parties constructed upon sheep in maximum crazy diametric opposition, so the check of balance held in common among the quiet rational is guns. And in this circumstance the gun owners are right defenders of freedom. Look at the data news since decade, lots of loss of freedom creeping on peoples, fighting for silly grants of rights instead of default having them. Even with a ban they will hide the guns for future among family / friend, only to even consider giving up when ideologies and schemes against peoples no longer present to need defended against. Yet know, giving up powerful tools of freedom, no matter the tool, even in a current state of freedom, is stupid, because tomorrow can still happen, faster than ever thought before.