...the right of the people peaceably to assemble...

It seems a bit counterintuitive, but I think the development of things like non-lethal weapons - area denial devices, sandbag projectiles, etc - is seriously dangerous to active participation in a democracy. These weapons give the bureaucrats and aparatchiks in government the illusion that they can 'control' people; claiming the humanitarian high ground, without using deadly force. Suddenly, they're several steps closer to being able to do whatever they please "in the name of the king and for the good of the state".