So because they are potentially lethal we require that people be licensed before they drive, and that they display proficiency in both the act of driving and the laws governing it. Yet obtaining a licence to possess a gun, which is designed to be lethal, requires no more than than a sound justification. The mandate of the police is to maintain law and order in society. The police are not duty bound to ensure the personal security of individuals, even if they could. So personal security is a personal matter, and the decision to arm oneself is a personal one.
People have the right to choose whether to arm themselves against a very real threat.
Many might choose not to, but they have no right to dictate to others that they cannot. Soggot eventually concludes in his article that a total ban on guns is a Utopian ideal . He is probably closer to the truth in his next sentence when he says enforcing a total gun ban would be a massive exercise in social engineering . To disarm the virtuous in the face of the lawless, who wield arms wantonly in defiance of any ban, is a recipe for anarchy, and surely marks the first step in the march of the jackboot.