Spoilers ahead for Justice League Infinity #2!
Both Superman and the X-Men's Professor X possess guns despite their vast powers, and for the same reason. In Justice League Infinity #2, on sale now in print and digital, readers learn Kal-El has asked Lois Lane to keep a Kryptonite gun on her at all times, there to take him down if his body or mind are hijacked by his enemies. This echoes a revelation from New X-Men, where it was revealed Professor X keeps a gun for the exact same purpose.
Professor X and Superman are two of the most powerful heroes in their respective universes, and both have been taken over and/or corrupted on several occasions. This has inspired each to keep a deadly weapon within constant reach - in Xavier's case, Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's New X-Men #114 reveals the pacifist professor is always packing heat, raising the gun to his temple when he comes under psychic assault so that his powers can't be used to hurt mutantkind.
In Justice League Infinity #2 - written by J.M. DeMatteis and James Tucker, with art by Ethen Beavers, colors by Nick Filardi and letters by Tom Napolitano - Superman just swapped places with Overman - a version of Kal-El raised in a world where the Nazis won the Second World War. His counterpart from that Earth switches places with Clark due to a new problem with the multiverse, enraged when he finds himself suddenly at dinner with Lois Lane. Without missing a beat, Lois aims the Kryptonite gun at him, telling him that Superman gave it to her to use in case he went bad. Unfortunately, Overman doesn't share Superman's weakness, and despite Lois' willingness to take him down, he escapes, perhaps even powered-up by the experience (as was recently the case when the alternate-dimension Kal-El known as Ultraman was shot with a Kryptonite bullet.)
Sadly, Professor X's failsafe is likewise ineffective in New X-Men #116. Here, Cassandra Nova is able to swap bodies with the Professor, then uses the gun he carries to shoot him down before he can reveal the switch to the X-Men. Nova goes on to use Xavier's body and powers to wreak havoc, proving that while his willingness to end his own life rather than hurt others was noble, it was also insufficient against such a major threat.
Professor X is one of the most powerful telepaths on Earth, and Superman one of the mightiest beings in the galaxy. In their home realities, they are great forces for good, but history has taught each that there is also the potential for corruption and control. Professor X became the villainous Onslaught and Superman was mind-controlled by Maxwell Lord. Both heroes did a lot of damage, and only extreme measures were able to stop them. Each recognized that there need to be methods and protocols in place to keep something like this from happening again, and both of them chose the form of a gun. This is a tremendously dark solution, but shows that not only are Superman and Professor X heroes, but they're also pragmatists who acknowledge the dangers of the worlds they live in and can make hard choices to keep their friends and allies safe.
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