That's true, and it's why I support an armed populace. The common man should possess the means to protect himself from thugs and tyranny. My point was simply in response to a lot of false bravado going around these days concerning terrorism.
At issue here are two major thought processes by those who oppose this idea:
1. The belief that if all weapons were removed that violence would no longer happen and people would be safe.
2. The belief that it is the responsibility of the (nominally benign) government to provide for the personal protection of its citizens.
The first is a misplaced faith that goes counter to human nature as a whole. We, as a species, did not evolve into THE apex predator on this planet because of firearms. We evolved into this role because of our brains, which are the single, most dangerous weapon on the planet. Within our brains lies both the intelligence on how to most effectively wield violence by ANY means and the will to do so for whatever purpose we, as a species, deem fit.
Removing guns does not change that fact and people who believe this, especially in light of the evidence against it, are living in a world of rainbows and unicorn farts.
The second is a misplaced faith which ignores the fact that any and all governments are mechanisms deliberately empowered to exercise authority and power over its citizens...and that the people who do so are representatives of a species powered by that self-same, single, most dangerous weapon on the planet. In fact, the processes by which government representatives are selected (democratic or otherwise) ensures a selection process which places the most capable and dangerous of these apex predators in positions of power over citizens.
The means of "checks and balances" in our own system is a way of pitting one apex predator against another in the hopes that their mutual combat will distract them from their normal prey (the citizens), but is ultimately meaningless unless the citizens likewise possess the power and the will to bare its teeth and remind them that we, also, are apex predators not to be triffled with.
Again...people who refuse to understand this are living in a world of rainbows and unicorn farts.