On Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:10:31 -0400, Warp wrote:

> The United States is completely in its own league with this. It's
> probably a cultural/upbringing thing.

It's entirely cultural.  When the US was nothing more than the British 
colonies, King George III attempted to disarm the populace in order to 
prevent an uprising.

The colonists felt they had the right to defend themselves, and did so - 
and based on the experience of the revolutionary war, decided that it 
should be one of the fundamental rights of citizenship so the government 
couldn't take other rights away at a whim.  The purpose was to provide 
for defense (indeed, that's part of the 2nd amendment to the constitution 
- "a well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free 
State [...]"

Jim

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