I am thinking guns, C4, etc should not be in game.
Keep it simple.
Bows, hatchets, knifes, stuff like that.
Way to many have guns and the noobs and other low levels get decimated
early on. They don't have a chance at even getting started.
The problem you're having has nothing to do with there being guns in the game. It's the lack of balancing of those guns, and the research, recipe and random loot system that makes it too easy to obtain them, and get ammunition, that leads to people wasting bullets on fresh spawns rather than saving them for a raid.
Guns belong in the game, and are fun to use, but need to be balanced until the best guns are rare and only used by people who have been playing in a server for a long amount of time.
I agree with you that as soon as they start adding a variety of weapons like knives and spears in updates, that it should be much harder to build a gun so you're encouraged to build your way up.