Do Americans have any idea how weird this looks to the rest of the world? The only places I can think of with similar gun cultures are Afghanistan and the North West Frontier.

Those in favour of guns seem very keen on the second part of the 2nd Amendment but less keen on the part about a well-ordered militia. Maybe it should be a requirement that anyone owning a gun should have to attend militia drills three times a week. Drills should where possible be arranged to coincide with the ball game.

One justification we hear is that people need guns to protect themselves from their own government. This is a nation which is so proud of its system of democracy that it has tried to impose it on other countries, sometimes by going to war, and yet people feel they cannot rely on its democratic systems and need to arm themselves. Seriously?

This is the richest and most powerful country in the world and yet it has failed to mature as a nation. It is hamstrung by a constitution which may have been appropriate 200 years ago in the aftermath of a war of independence but is not fit for purpose in the 21st century, but seems impossible to change.