I'm not old enough to know what that was like. Can you describe the Civil Defense system as it existed back then? How did it give people a role in their own destiny? Was everyone allowed to carry?
It was a different era. Most places allowed carry before the war, long guns especially, but openly worn handguns as well. (Not NYC of course, their anti firearms laws were older than that)
Civilian "militia" or "state guard", often composed of males too old or too young to enter the regular armed forces, patroled dams, power plants, and other "high value" targets. Many women were part of a network of aircraft spotters, at least on the coasts and in Hawaii. Early in the war civilian boats, yachts actually, were pressed into anti submarine patrol, as were private aircraft. Some of those yachts were even armed with depth charges, IIRC.