Question for the gun control crowd.?

One of the arguments I hear from some of the gun crowd is that the citizenry should be armed, should they ever have to stand up to their own government. Then, the common rebuttal is that we would not stand a chance, opposing them, now, anyway and that anyone who thinks otherwise is foolish. However, many of the same people making this rebuttal probably have at least some faith in the system. Hypothetically speaking, if you didn't think change was as simple as checking a D or R on election day, and that a coup was the only real way things would ever change, might your opinions change somewhat? As in maybe empathizing more with people who forseen the potential need of a coup one day more than people who shamed you for not doing your "civic duty" in voting? I know I'll get blasted for this. Just a hypothetical question.