The more your position is endangered, the more the enemy lurks among the own population, fight it with discredit of what he does today and what he has done in the past.
If the Germans ever do something that goes wrong again, nobody's going to remember that once there were two states of them. They are just going to be "the Germans".
Even genocides are only a small chapter on the politcal stage.
Not the seize of a gun matters. Also balance counts. A gun designed for long range may not be useful in close combat. Weapons with great weight may also be defeated by smaller ones because the shooter is more skilled with them. The worst thing is a gun you can't find ammunition for.