As someone who actually likes and owns guns, I really think most (it's obviously complicated and multi-faceted) of this can be explained simply by saying "guns"
There really isn’t. Almost no gun owners do anything unsafe with guns or ever shoot anyone. US gun culture is extremely safety focussed.
The media paints a completely bizarre and distorted picture of gun owners in general, picking the stupidest or most outlandish examples they can.
Most people who are involved in shootings in the US are in deeply underprivileged areas where there is a lot of crime in general, and ineffective policing and a dearth of opportunity.
It is often not irrational for young men in these circumstances to get involved in gang or crime related activities given the lack of alternatives, and it’s also not irrational to carry a gun under these circumstances, and it does lead to a lot of shootings.
This has very little to do with gun ownership and gun culture in the US in general.
Gun culture in the states, imo, needs iteration. The problem is that the people at the helm of gun culture are operating and advocating out of fear. The worst thing that ever happened to gun culture was people started lobbying to cancel 2a, which gave these people their power. It invited people who know nothing about guns, their uses, their purpose, or how to handle them into a world with real world consequences. It inspires buying frenzies and other ridiculous behavior. I'm not sure how many of these people actually kill people as opposed to the loopholes where bad actors purchase weapons they never should've had access to in order to bring violence and chaos into the world for their own gain.
Rather than talking down bad gun culture, I'd like to talk up good gun culture:
- know your weapon safety conditions. They're a community language for communicating safety and awareness. Knowing your weapon condition and confidently communicating something like, "condition 4" instills trust and confidence.
- know your weapons troubleshooting and function check procedures. The worst thing you can hear when you go to use a weapon is "clunk".
- know weapon safety rules. The military has some great ones that are quite universal. Treat, Never, Keep, Keep.
- weapons should be cared for and stored correctly. This is just an extension of good safety procedures.
Having good gun culture isn't just a thing to geek out about. It's a source of pride, much less a necessity.