"No, they are terrorists who want a civil war" is not the comeback you think it is. The people who think like that should be on watchlists and the registries that prevent them from buying guns.
The last civil war in the united states happened something like two life-times ago. Being prepared for the possibility of an unwanted civil war is not the same thing as wanting to start one. Given that war within the border of the US in a lifetime is historically well within "one unlucky 6-sided dice roll" it doesn't seem that weird of a thing for people to worry about, or possibly even somehow "prepare" for.
Which has nothing to do with the person I was responding to who talked about "bowing to the government" and how revolutionaries are always perceived as terrorists.
In that case, I would point out that trying to extrapolate a rate of civil wars from black swan events seems almost impossible. It's happened one time in US history (two if you want to count the American Revolution).
And how do these people's preparations help in the event of a civil war?
