[bellgrove]

> Is there data for this question which would back restricting populations from having tools of self defense against tyrannic government(could happen in Canada too one day) and make it high priority for society compared to other problems?

The US has these tools and a dictator upending the country and yet these tools are not being utilized.

[riku_iki]

half of the country supports him, so he is not really dictator.

[acdha]

It’s a third, but also that’s not a criteria for “dictator” – the term refers to unchecked power, and while over time that tends to build resentment it’s not a given. This is especially true when they favor certain religious or ethnic groups where the beneficiaries like the dictator and everyone else does not.

[riku_iki]

Its up to discussion if current president's power is really unchecked.

[acdha]

Sure, but that’s what makes someone a dictator, not whether they poll well.

[riku_iki]

Poll is an actual check, that his actions are aligned with what population wants from him. Laws and institutions are always not perfect, and all governments violated some rules.

[dragonwriter]

Popular dictatorships—as most tend to be, at the beginning—are still dictatorships.

What makes a dictator is a ruler unconstrained in practice by law.