the primary purpose of a gun is to deter possible aggressors from starting trouble with you.

the ultima ratio is to actually use the gun. for 99% of threats, showing it off is good enough.

I've used a handgun to signal for help, to find lost people in the woods in Alaska, to hunt, to scare away bears, and for fun. And on a few occasions, I've been very glad to have a handgun with me stateside, because I came quite close to needing to use it to protect myself. Fortunately I was able to negotiate those situations without using force.

Are you a pacifist, incidentally? Can you really think of no valid reason why a citizen might need to wound or kill someone?

Guns used to be tools, but they aren't in much of the US. That doesn't mean they can't be, but they aren't used as tools, so they've lost a lot of their value.

Yes, if you're hunting, it's a tool.

> That's not the case with encryption.

sure it isn't.