Gun users=Magic users?

[Mirage]

The reason you see parallels is largely due to guns just being "the great equalizer" I mean anyone can use a handgun or rifle, whereas using a melee weapon effectively requires strength, endurance, and above average physical ability if you want to be a real threat. I mean what does Dwayne Johnson need with a pistol if he can pick you up and toss you like a rag doll? On the other hand, wimpy old Mr. Average could easily beat Dwayne Johnson if he had a gun and just shot him.

In terms of actual gun users in the FF world. Vincent is physically weak when not in monster mode but considering he transforms into a monster and has an occult design, I feel it makes sense he's better with magic. On the other hand, Barret does use guns and he's built like a brick house and below average on magic use.

Laguna and Irvine are both pretty great fighters who both use guns, Gunblades don't really count in VIII because they're not real guns and more like Vibro-Blades. They can't actually shoot bullets.

Gunner and Gun Mage are two really broken classes in X-2 when used right. Guns work like their real world counterparts in FFTactics franchise where they allow even frail classes to take down armored knights with ease. I think the Gunner class had to be retooled several times in XI.

Sahz may not have as high of strength as other characters but his basic weapon works like a shotgun and does multi-hit damage which when added up, makes him a better choice for Commando roles than Lightning or Snow.

There is no gunner in FFXI, but there is ranger. They can use bows, crossbows and guns (and axes for when you want to preserve ammo cause that trout is mad expensive). They have never been anywhere near decent at magic. With the exception of 3 or so jobs (paladin, dark knight, rune knight (and ninja if you want to count ninjutsu although that functions differently from normal magic)), you're either good at magic, or completely useless at magic. You can multiclass but then the magic power comes solely from your support job.