The 2nd amendment has a lot of significance here in America, but these days it's almost more on a cultural/symbolic level than anything. We have this sort of anti-government, anti-establishment cultural fiber ingrained in our society and the idea that the general public can have the right to be armed plays a part in that. On a practical level I think it's getting lost and restrictions should be put in place to accommodate the dynamics of modern times, and it's pretty ridiculous to think we'd have any chance to stand against the government in firepower, but I do still understand and respect our 2nd amendment. Still much more an advocate of the 1st (freedom of speech), but the 2nd is part of the fabric of our society and shouldn't be tampered with, lest we start to lose our own identity as Americans.
On another level, our gun culture I think comes from our hunting nature, and the fact that the large land mass of the US doesn't always enable those in the "flyover" areas in particular to come running to the police when trouble arises. This is where having your own weapons come in handy here, when the cops can't scramble over to assist you in a crisis within minutes.
To make clear, I'm no advocate of guns by any means, but at the same time, I can somewhat see where the love of guns comes from in our country in comparison to others.
Unfortunately, we've always been something of a violent country culturally speaking, and one that thrives on this mentality of "me vs you," which, when combined with the relative ease of accessing high-powered firearms (along with the massive distribution of mind-altering psych meds) can produce the recipe for disaster, but I do believe that the guns in and of themselves aren't necessarily the problem.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident - all men and women created by the, go-you know.. you know the thing!" - Joe Biden
