Yep, Sam Colt knew this, as it was common knowledge in his day. He called the relatively recent invention of a repeating, powerful, sidearm (a weapon that anyone could carry on their persons at all times during the day) "The Great Equalizer." Its appearance on the scene dramatically reduced the incidence of murder, since thereafter the ability to get away unscathed with killing another human being wasn't something within the exclusive purview of the young, healthy, male, physically strong, naturally athletic, and highly skilled with edged weaponry, bludgeons and the like. With the simple mastery of the draw and fire, with reasonable accuracy at close range, even a sickly old 98 pound weakling was the near equal in a fight to the death of a young and athletic saber-master. The natural consequence, one perfectly predictable by anyone of normal intelligence who was not already brainwashed to the contrary and irrational viewpoint, was a dramatic reduction in murder rates.
