“The reason many in government fear an armed citizenry is that they don’t intend for their government to remain legitimate under the Constitution.”
By my reading, we lost legitimate government about 90 years ago, starting with the globalist tyrant and racist Woodrow Wilson (democrat) and continuing with the fascist FDR (democrat).
Yes, but as long as the citizenry remains armed the government must maintain a pretense of constitutional legitimacy. That requirement doesn't completely prevent descent into totalitarian anarchy, but it does slow it down. Disarm the citizenry and things will descend much faster.