If I was a civilian in a large scale war between the United States government and its civilian population I’m pretty sure I would rather the civilians have access to cars than to guns if it was one or the other.
A conventional war between civilians armed with small arms against the full United States military is a completely unrealistic scenario for what armed resistance would actually look like.
More realistic scenarios, based on historical examples, include:
1. Armed resistance of local or federal authorities/law enforcement (e.g. Battle of Athens, Bundy Standoff)
2. Guerrilla warfare against a superior military force (e.g. Afghanistan)
3. Full civil war between the states (would probably look something like Russia-Ukraine war happening right now)
In the first two scenarios small arms are absolutely effective. In the third scenario, access to more advanced weapons and logistics would be split between the factions (and possibly supplemented by outside forces).
Law enforcement entities become much less willing to play fast and loose with their use of force when there is a good chance that kicking in a door at 4am will get you shot back at which could result in one of your guys being killed and then tough, potentially career limiting, questions being asked about why they chose to kick in that door under those circumstances.
More realistic scenarios, based on historical examples, include:
1. Armed resistance of local or federal authorities/law enforcement (e.g. Battle of Athens, Bundy Standoff)
2. Guerrilla warfare against a superior military force (e.g. Afghanistan)
3. Full civil war between the states (would probably look something like Russia-Ukraine war happening right now)
In the first two scenarios small arms are absolutely effective. In the third scenario, access to more advanced weapons and logistics would be split between the factions (and possibly supplemented by outside forces).