I was mainly a duck hunter but went rabbit hunting one day. We were walking along flushing out the rabbits when one behind me took off. I spun around, it was clear, and I got him. But there was nothing left but a bit of fur floating in the air. I was using a 12 gauge, full choke, and got him at about 20 feet. I'm sure it was 6 or 8 shot but that didn't help.
Civilians are the last line of defense against invasion and an illegal government. So why shouldn't civilians be well armed? You can't bet fend off an invading army with pistols. But as we've seen in the ME, to occupy a territory you have to go street by street, house by house. And 300 million guns makes that a real challenge - a near impossibility.