Hey BD, here is a thread on gun safety
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=220574&highlight=gun+safety
I agree we have, or should have, the inherent right to own firearms. And I do, and I'll teach my kids to shoot too.
However, just to play devil's advocate, I have a hard time coming up with a realistic scenario in which Americans armed with guns manage to overthrow a dictatorial government. Plenty of repressive governments have been toppled in recent decades - Eastern Europe and the states of the former USSR are examples - and it wasn't done by citizens toting FALs. It was done with strikes, protests, media, and votes. Look at the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, for instance.
As David pointed out, if the President sends a combat brigade with amour and attack helicopters into your town, how useful will the 12 rounds of 45ACP in your Paraordnance Warthog be, other than as a way to commit suicide?
To me, the right to own firearms has more to do with the right of self-protection against crime, as well as something deep in American history and culture (all that frontier and Wild West stuff).