The gun rights discussion often misses a point, which I feel is the most important.  Government isn’t the only entity in society that can threaten people’s safety with violence.  The Second Amendment exists to give people the means to protect themselves from the spectrum of threats to personal safety.

The idea is that a person doesn’t have to depend on government to protect themselves.  Imagine what would happen if you had to rely on government when a lynch mob showed up, and the cops chose not to come?

That’s the purpose of the Second Amendment.

Rights aren’t just about protecting people from government, they also are meant to empower individuals so that they aren’t rendered dependent on government.  Which, by the way, is what’s so offensive about contemporary healthcare paradigms.