I'd hardly call Northern Ireland "limited"....but it's a good example of what's to come. Also, considering the damage that hackers like Anonymous can do to electronic infrastructure, future insurrectionists may do even more damage than truck bombs & targeted assasinations.....but those will still happen too.
I'm not looking forward to the next 50 years.....
Yep, "The Troubles" are a prime example of how a really small group of people can create a struggle that lasts
decades. Actual IRA bombers/kneecappers/triggermen operating in N. Ireland
at any given moment was probably just in the teens. And that tied up a sizeable portion of the entire British Army.
Say there's 50 Million American gun-owners who are politically aware on the nominal Libertarian/Right/Limited .gov side of the coin.
Say 1% of them are "willing to do something about it". That's 500,000 people.
Say 1% of those 500,000 who might do something like give logistical support, cover, safe houses, money, intel... whatever, are actually willing to pull a trigger, that's 5000.
It's a bad comparison, but look at what
one Tim McVeigh did, or how the
two Beltway Snipers tied everything up in knots for weeks or months. And instead of just evil randomness against citizens, these theoretical 5000 are actively plotting/gunning against the people and institutions they feel are "part of the problem".
Hell, let's be even more conservative. Imagine just
fifty people all acting out at once.