This is one issue where there is no pendulum. The pro-gun lobby has owned censorship of gun research for a generation and is likely to keep it from being an active and honest research area.
Perhaps in a world where armed combat between civilians and the military only involves muskets this holds true, but exactly how do you expect to “exert your second amendment rights” when a squad armed with M16s, grenade launchers, body armor, and night vision goggles shows up to your door? A 9mm pea shooter?
A large number of voters seem to think it works.
> “exert your second amendment rights”
The second amendment is a prohibition on the government, so it is not a right to be exerted, but rather a natural right that is not to be inhibited.
> [...] when a squad armed with M16s, grenade launchers, body armor, and night vision goggles shows up to your door?
Guerrilla warfare has proven time after time that you should not assume the larger-numbered, better-equipped party will automatically win this type of scenario.