The problem with having everybody possess potentially deathly tools is not terrorism, but crime in general. I, for myself, can think of a lot more crimes committed by normal people than the government.
The historical argument is of course not completely unreasonable, but there are also an awful lot of discrepancies when looking at states government today and 300 years ago. At least in Europe, where I live, the government can be trusted in a lot of issues --- especially it is highly likely that they _try_ to do what is best and are no &quot;evil emperors&quot;.