alot of FF's mix up guns & swords, I think it has alot to do with Japanese Reversion to the sword.

When the gun was really being spread around the world, Japan probably capitalized off of it the most. Shortly after it being introduced, it was being mass produced and people were being armed. There were alot of battles in Japan's "Age of the Country at War" where the battles were that of WWI, only about a hundred years before.

Guns were probably used more and better in Japan than anywhere else in the world for a long time, but it caused alot of cultural problems. For example, a no-name peasant could now kill just as many people as a samurai.

This caused Japan's government to start several policies which would eventually lead to the depopularization of the gun in favor of the sword.

This is symbolized in the game that the Shinra MP's (peasants) use guns, where as SOLDIER (Samurai) use swords.

In short, it's one of those things about Final Fantasy that most non-Japanese players don't get.