Not to defend the 2nd amendment as `power to the people' but that is not how the argument works. The fear is that a benevolent government banishes arms, which

Not to defend the 2nd amendment as `power to the people' but that is not how the argument works. The fear is that a benevolent government banishes arms, which makes the populace defenseless. Then later, a malevolent government gets into power, and the populace can no-longer defend itself. The key here is that the government instituting a ban need not be the government that later needs to be revolted against.