@Don Meixner

During the later parts of and after the US civil war, during the period of "the Wild West" the US government was not capable of enforcing law and order throughout much of the USA - even the parts not under rebel control. Local "warlords" - various outlaw gangs - were beyond the effective power of of law enforcement. Citizens could have no confidence in the rule of law nor the power of the law. To my mind, during that period, the USA was a "failed state".

Yet there is much popular affection for the myths of that period. The imagery of the USA returns constantly to that period, the era of the gunslinger. Arguably that plays a part in the refusal of the USA to accept the controls of a civilised state on offensive weapons.

That is the irony. The USA is at present the greatest military power in teh world. It has until recently been the greatest economic power in the world and is still the largest economy. Its cultural values (if that is the right expression) effectively colonialise the globe even where its military writ has difficulty running. It writes "long arm" laws to extend its rule into other jurisdictions and its legal systems and the models of its laws are reflected worldwide and imposed via international treaties (eg WIPO). It sees itself as global policeman and seeks to impose rule on failed states and on the states whose governments it dislikes. Yet less than 200 years ago it was a failed state.