Guns will protect you from tsunamis.

[xoxoxoBruce]

As rifles and side arms improved, the people that could afford them, kept pace. It wasn't until weapons were developed for killing buildings and tanks, that private citizens didn't have a legitimate application for, that the government said whoa, Nellie. The people don't need this shit and could do a hell of a lot of bad things, even accidentally, with it. They figured it probably wasn't a good idea for you to be able to run down to the hardware store and pick up a gun that would shoot the door off a bank vault.