[codeecan]

Its a lot harder for your government to become authoritarian when your citizens can shoot back

[tim333]

I think the fact that Venezuelans had guns in 2012 but still had issues show that it's not foolproof.

[amanaplanacanal]

Plus it seems like folks are willing to vote in the authoritarians on purpose, as long as they are my authoritarians and not your authoritarians.