In the US guys are taught from a very early age that it is much more "manly" to be totally self-sufficient, including solving all your problems on your own. That's one thing that even the mentally unstable realize. And the US has a long history, aided and abetted by Hollywood and TV, of solving problems by violence, and especially with guns.

We've just had 8 years of somebody who swallowed the whole line.

And none of this is new.