Your dichotomy is false; the “civilized world” to which you presumably refer does not eschew guns for self-defense. Instead, it simply restricts that right of self-defense to those professionally affiliated with the government: police and military.
The debate is never “guns or no guns”. The government and its agents always have guns, even in places like Japan. The debate is whether or not the unwashed masses also are permitted the right to defend themselves alongside (and sometimes against) the agents of the state.
History shows us quite plainly the dangerous issues with the circumstance where only the state is armed and civilians are not, from the holocaust all the way down to the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC.
The debate is never “guns or no guns”. The government and its agents always have guns, even in places like Japan. The debate is whether or not the unwashed masses also are permitted the right to defend themselves alongside (and sometimes against) the agents of the state.
History shows us quite plainly the dangerous issues with the circumstance where only the state is armed and civilians are not, from the holocaust all the way down to the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC.