Then there of course are the other examples of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Those were probably the worst possible environments, yet they had strictly enforced gun laws.Seems to me that genocide is usually suffered by populations that have had strict gun laws imposed upon them. It's a little harder to murder those that are as armed as you are. I think that is what was meant by having an "armed militia".
Surely, you don't want lawlessness, and that's what we see in the troubled regions of the world. But I don't think going too far the other way and being overly intrusive is good either. Punish a man for what he does, not what you think he might do. That's what I think is the best policy.