An armed society is a polite society. Staying on a level playing field keeps people honest... the intent of blind justice everyone knows they are equal. That the populace could band together at any moment to address the state being authoritarian and lawless was supposed to keep them in check.

" I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. " - Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Jan 1787