People fantasize about dueling. Some guy insults your wife, your honor, your dog, whatnot, and in the fantasy you duel and you show him. The reality is that a lot of older men, and barely men (very young) lost their lives to men in their prime. Approaching 50 myself I can readily see why dueling isn’t such a grand idea.
I too am approaching 50, and I too see dueling as not the smartest concept I ever heard of. What I don't get, however, is what delusion led the government to think it was any of their affair to ban or even regulate.