Yeah, I can't decide whether it's just simple escalation - if we all have bats, it's not significantly different if we all have guns - but then again, guns do amplify power much more, so attacking someone who only has a bat when you've only got bats seems much safer than attacking someone with a gun when you've also got guns.
The combination of rifles "of military utility" (e.g. a turn of the last century bolt action service rifle, or at least the design, such as this last remaining or about used up variety: http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx?Keywords=Mosin+Nagant), knowing how to use them, and having them sighted in, is much, much more than an escalation.
Against the untrained, or those with only shotguns or handguns, as long as you don't let them get within 100 or so yards of you, you're pretty safe and they're bleeding on the ground or have fled.
Although as the previously mentioned Bruce Clayton pointed out, budget some of your money for food for other people. You need more people pulling triggers than yourself.
