Why Is There A Love Affair With Guns In America?

I've been asked this question off and on for years. Surprisingly, I've been asked this by a few relatives of mine.
I don't know quite how to answer in some circumstances. Not because I don't know the answer, but because I'm so totally shocked at the obvious ignorance of the questioner that I'm left speechless.
Okay, let me make that a bit more clear. They don't actually ask the question the way it's stated in this blog's topic. They typically ask me something like, "Why are you so 'one note frankie' about the 2nd Amendment?" or even less annoying, "I think the 1st Amendment is more important than the 2nd Amendment, don't you agree?"
No, I don't agree. It's just that they had to put one of them first and the second one seemed so obvious to them they almost didn't put it in at all.
There was discussion about not even having a "Bill of Rights" because they thought it was so obvious what they were after. Just read this simple, well-written part of the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Originally, "pursuit of Happiness" was "right to own property" which wasn't included because they feared those words, cannonized into the body of U.S. law, would make the abolition of slavery impossible, or incredibly difficult. Had they been able to foresee the civil war, prophesied by Joseph Smith, they might have included the words anyway. Some knew that "Happiness" is a fleeting thing which can't be defined accurately by anyone, especially by, or for, those who suffer with severe bouts of depression.
So, I won't bore you with more. Instead I'm going to point you to an article written by Randy Cassingham on his "This Is True" blog.
You can read a much better answer to this blog's topic by following this link:
http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-guns_in_america_why.html
Notice that I'm not just copying it here. I'd have to get his permission. Just linking to it is my way out of that dilemma. So, have at it, and when you are done, you will either understand why we own guns in America, or you will be confused and still wonder. If you are part of the latter group, I'm sorry for having wasted your time. But more than that, I'm sorry you aren't bright enough to understand the simpleness of there actually being evil in the world, but maybe more importantly, that God gave us liberty, and the constitution is a tool to help us keep it.
Yes, I'm offensive, but only if you give me the power to control your 'offense button' for you.
I'm Karl, and in this, I'm definitely right!

---