What about the philosophical view? That a citizen has the right (not just the privilege!) to defend his life and property and that of those he chose to associate with? And that only a subject is denied that right and has to relinquish it to his overlord? Well, then the U.K. is not a Republic …

On the practical side, a criminal/thug/punk will always find a way to get a weapon or weaponize an item if his mind is already set on hurting or killing people who oppose his actions. Meaning a law-abiding disarmed citizen will be at a disadvantage since he doesn’t have the same mindset. And if a law-abiding citizen is acquiring an “illegal” weapon he has a hard time training regularily.

One can debate if the public security is already so bad that handguns/knives/tasers/&c are advisable on the streets (at least in some areas), but there should certainly be no restrictions on firearm ownership for home defence purposes.