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> IIRC the right to bear arms was intended so that the people can overthrow the government if need be; small chance of that now, with the military and police forces as advanced and militarised as they are now.

However it seems that most low tech insurgencies fighting against the advanced conventional militaries of the West always seem to win, from Vietnam right up to Afghanistan / Iraq.

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Because they gain a greater advantage by going guerilla than they lose by having inferior tech and training. You can't hold an unwilling populace in order for long - you either have to convince them to accept your rule or get ready to ruthlessly massacre them. The West sucks at the first and doesn't want to do the second.

> However it seems that most low tech insurgencies fighting against the advanced conventional militaries of the West always seem to win, from Vietnam right up to Afghanistan / Iraq.

But it didn't really work during the US Civil War.

I'm only making this point in reference to conflicts that involve insurgencies.

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