It is not accurate to state that the "last thing the police want is an armed, vigilante citizenry." That is the stance of the various organizations of Police Chiefs, most of whose jobs are political in nature. If the police chief of Los Angeles were to state that he believed in an armed citizenry, he could measure his career in hours.
Polls of the rank and file members of the nation's police departments reveal a different mindset altogether. The great majority do not fear armed and law-abiding citizens. These officers realize that citizens perfectly capable of making rational decisions when they are being threatened or attacked. "Vigilante justice" is one of those bugabears that is trotted out whenever this subject is being discussed. States that have right-to-carry laws have not been subjected to a rash of vigilante justice. Instead, they have seen their crime rates go down.
Regards, Shuckins