Most of us have hobbies of one sort or another. Certain hobbies are, for some reason, culturally privileged and some of their practitioners really buy into that. Sports fans get macho cred and some even convince themselves that it's some high level intellectual activity. It's entertainment and gambling, people.
And that's also the case with "gun culture." That isn't actually a real thing. It's a stupid phrase. No your gun is not going to allow you to defend yourself or defend your family. No your love for guns doesn't make you special and immune from criticism. No there's nothing special and manly about hunting. The hunters I knew all brought a case of beer with them to keep them company in their early morning tree stands.
Despite the fact that no one is actually going to take away all of their guns, gun owners are weirdly sensitive that someone might disapprove of their little hobby. As someone who grew up with mostly nerd hobbies it's pretty funny to me. I never had culturally sanctioned hobbies and they didn't involve killing machines.
