Our country is founded on fear. Fear that the indigenous tribes we were genociding would kill us. Fear that the slaves would rise up and do to us what we did to them. Fear that immigrants that we exploited to death would rise up and take revenge. The 2nd amendment was added to appease fearful slave owners. Militias started in the south to capture runaway slaves. Police were formed as much to intimidate the lower classes as to solve crimes.

Since WWII and particularly since the end of the cold war, we've been on a world-wide rampage of death and Pax Americana (aka peace at the end of a gun). We have normalized mass murder on the international stage, "enjoying" real life video games of US forces blowing up Baghdad and Kandahar. "The beauty of our weapons" indeed.

Since the 80s and even more so since the 90s we've stripped away nearly all of the social safety nets and community institutions. It is Gorden Gecko dog eat dog capitalism since then.

Combine all of the above and it is no surprise that gun violence in the US is rampant, and gun sales at an all time high. In late-stage capitalist US it gets clearer every day that you are very often going to be "on your own" if violence enters your life.