Technology has rendered the whole idea of an armed citizenry defending itself against the government a nostalgic fantasy.

If the North Vietnamese had faced an army with night vision, satellite directed drones, smart bombs, and devices that can see bodies through clouds and jungle canopies, they would have been obliterated.

Their primary weapon was their ability to hide. On the modern battlefield, there is nowhere to hide.

If you can’t hide, you have to stand and fight. If you are facing an enemy with overpowering firepower, you will only get to stand and fight once. A bunch of civilians, even armed with fully automatic assault rifles, won’t last an hour against trained soldiers backed by artillery, air strikes and modern surveillance technology.

That said, I’m still not willing to fully hand a monopoly on violence over to this or any other government. There is still something to be said for the idea of resistance, even if the reality is futile.