Consider why tiny Switzerland has never been invaded by its much more powerful and often bellicose neighbors. It’s not because of the Alps. It’s because the Swiss have a strong tradition of armed self-defense at every level. Both invading armies and criminal gangs go around “hard targets” that are known to shoot back!
I love the quote (perhaps a fiction for all I know, but I like the attitude) attributed to a Swiss politician or diplomat when he was told by his German counterpart that the German army alone had twice as many people as the entire population of Switzerland. The Swiss guy said "Then we'll each have to shoot twice."
It might never have been said, but it was still true.