User blog comment:IzumiP/A few words on weapons in Subnautica./@comment-24.245.17.210-20151009131819/@comment-67.172.141.230-20151020234413

The Aurora was sent on a terraforming mission. In the case of this planet, it means lowering the water level of the oceans. That pretty much spells extinction for most of the species who live in the shallows and those that prey on them because it displaces their habitat before they can evolve. Unless the colonists replaced the existing lifeforms with new ones (probably genetically engineered versions of the local flora and fauna), then the colonists would be comitting a level of violence far beyond the spectrum of any single person with a gun.

However, based on the current design of the game, we can speculate that colonists live in such an era where there is no such thing as scarcity. Everything can be manufactured from the raw materials of the planet as needed. If it takes a matter of fifteen seconds for our 3D laser-printing robots to make a machine as complex as the Cyclops, then medical technology is probably just as up to snuff. Unless it is illegal for some reason, healing and restoring colonist lives would be relatively simple. We're talking a maximum of a couple hours to analyze DNA and protein strucutre and print new organs, limbs, and even whole people if necessary. Perhaps The Aurora comes from such a time where people don't really care about death, which explains why they are woefully underprepared for personal defense. In the age of space colonization, our past as violent, self-destructive hunters is a blurry and distant memory.