"ideas are more powerful than guns. we would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas. " what is the meaning of this quote?

This quote is saying that although guns can offer a "quick fix" in terms of winning a certain goal, "ideas" allow for things like revolutions and uprisings--transfers of power--to occur, which make them far more valuable in terms of long term change. This is why the speaker here views them as being more dangerous than guns when it comes to an oppressed population.