I used to hang out in the country with kids whose dads owned tanks and Humvees. They had entire arsenals, with basements full of munition. Ostensibly to protect themselves against the federal government, but mostly they just liked accumulating this stuff. It was a hobby, like collecting classic cars.
Dude down the street in Maryland accidentally blew himself up. He had seemed so normal and then his house went poof.
Wow, that is definitely the exception, not the rule. You knew some incredibly wealthy and privileged people. That isn't representative of the average gun owning American. I can see why you have a skewed perspective about gun culture in the US.
Obviously, they are extreme examples, but outlayers reveal the overall tendency. Every culture has outliers in some general direction.
They weren't wealthy. I just lived in the country, in the 1990s, where people had large properties and lots of land was just empty. People bought up retired Army equipment, after Desert Storm, and drove it around and target-shot.
It's all subdivisions for Austin, now, and full of left-wing software developers drinking green smoothies.
