Alex Tabarrok has some more on the question of whether Iraqis were well armed while Saddam was in power. (My earlier comments are here.)
He points to a New York Times article that states: "Mr. Hussein, never one to tolerate competition, forbade private citizens to carry weapons, effectively outlawing the security industry.", and suggests that contradicts an earlier New York Times article that reported that guns were easy and legal to obtain in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Tabarrok concludes:
Clearly, the New York Times is wrong. But where does the truth lie?
However, it is possible that Iraqi civilians might have been allowed to own guns and keep them in their homes, but not to carry them in public, so there isn't necessarily a contradiction between the two reports.