That rifle on the wall of the labourer’s cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.

George Orwell, author

In an egalitarian society, where all people are equal under the law, the ultimate expression of that equality is the common ownership of deadly weapons. It is more than an armed society being a polite society, but the realization that the populace has the means at its disposal to resist tyranny.

H/t to reader David for sending me a bunch of quotes to use.