&gt; <i>What other group would you prefer to have a monopoly on violence?</i><p>The people. Governments can be illegitimate, e.g. not derive from the consent of the people, in which case government monopoly on violence yields oppression.<p>Violent revolutions are sometimes necessary in the course of human events. Without the people having the capacity to wage war on their government -- that is, the capacity for violence via the right to bear arms -- such revolutions are not possible.