A1 said:
But the human factor is still arguably the most crucial component. But I guess it largely depends on your point of view. For example guns are still useless without a human to use them. At least for the time being.
I would assume that any kind of hand-held weapon requires a human to operate, yes.
Unless you can refute the inherent advantages of firearms, this human element nonsense is meaningless. Find a piece of rope or nylon cord and try to cut through it with your teeth. Then try again with a knife and tell me if the tool or the human element was the more decisive factor.
Weapons are specialized tools that give you capabilities you would not possess otherwise. A sword gives you the capability to destroy things that are close to you. A gun gives you the capability to destroy things that are close to you or far away, with less training and physical effort required to do so.
Something I didn't think of before, by the way. You kept bringing up ammunition, so I'd like to bring up muscle fatigue from running, dodging, and swinging a heavy piece of steel around.
No the human element does not matter most. People are not naturally endowed to shoot small high-speed projectiles out of their asses. That's why we had to invent guns. The fact that different people have different skill in using certain weapons does not change the fact that some weapons are inherently better.