As an outsider, Americans seem to have a much stronger admiration / hero worship for members of the armed forces that the Brits (with the possible exception of WWII fighter pilots).
That translates into a marketing of things military; 'tac' lights or 'tac' glasses, for example ('tac' being short for tactical which is itself short-hand, as I understand it for "used by the military or the more heavily armed branches of law enforcement". Try Googling "tactical" and see what comes up.
That in turn reinforces the fascination and demand for all sorts of military and military-style products; at the intersection of this and a fascination the projection of with lethal force, America has created a demand for the same weapons the military uses like the AR-15 (army) or the Glock hand guns (police departments). It seems that for many, probably NRA members mostly, their sense of identity is built in part on looking like the military, and that is behind their visceral opposition to any ban on semi-automatic assault rifles. America, or at least parts of it, not only has a gun problem - it has a gun culture problem.
That in turn reinforces the fascination and demand for all sorts of military and military-style products; at the intersection of this and a fascination the projection of with lethal force, America has created a demand for the same weapons the military uses like the AR-15 (army) or the Glock hand guns (police departments). It seems that for many, probably NRA members mostly, their sense of identity is built in part on looking like the military, and that is behind their visceral opposition to any ban on semi-automatic assault rifles. America, or at least parts of it, not only has a gun problem - it has a gun culture problem.
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