Re: firearms Whether guns are 'niche' are not is to some extent dictated by culture and existing legislation.. In DC, they were all but banned until recently,

Re: firearms Whether guns are 'niche' are not is to some extent dictated by culture and existing legislation.. In DC, they were all but banned until recently, and I believe still are hard to come by.. big surprise, they are very 'niche' (unless, as you said, you were in a gang or illicit drug industry) Places where this is not the case and where you will find as you call them 'gun nuts', they are very common, and it is to some extent more 'niche' to be a gun restriction advocate, who, from this perspective are 'gun control nuts'. Or at least the two are more balanced ends of a spectrum. Many people in the latter category still view firearms as a necessary check on government power, and those who advocate gun control as wishing to remove this check, much along the same logic as you support in your argument against encryption control. As for whether guns could or could not be an effective check on government power in the modern 'high tech' age - see just about any ground conflict against armed insurgents the US has tried to involve itself in in the past 50 or so years.. while it hasn't always gone the way of the 'enemies', it has rarely been smooth sailing.. It is no surprise that some of the biggest restrictions against firearms have come during periods of rebellion/lawlessness - prohibition and gangs (1938 act) and the turmoil of the late 60's (1968 act).. I fail to see how your line of reasoning doesn't lead to a future where encryption should be banned because the state can crack it anyway..