"An armed society is a polite society."
-- Robert Heinlein
I would add that a society must also have a well-established system of laws and effective law enforcement. Otherwise you get something like the wild border provinces of Paki-/Afghanistan, where everyone is armed but blood feuds and armed banditry are the norm. I don't know what you'd call the Afghanistani/Pakistani lawless border areas, but 'society' doesn't quite fit.