Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

I don't own a gun. I've never fired a gun. I grew up in a house that had several different hunting rifles but they sat mostly unused, on display as family heirlooms.

Obviously our Constitution guarantees us the right to own weapons, I don't want to take anyone's guns away from them. I have several dear friends who are hunters and I've no desire to eliminate their right to go kill animals (as long as they eat what they kill.)

What I want to know is why does this happen in the United States? Sure we own guns, but we're not the only country where people are armed. Occasionally you'll hear about this sort of event happening in other countries (Dunblane, Scotland and Erfurt, Germany come to mind) but mental-break, psychotic shoot-fests seem to happen predominantly in the United States.

Why do you suppose that is? Societal pressure, access to weapons, emotional disturbance, genetic predisposition, broken families, environmental toxins...all of the above? Regardless of the reason it is a sad, sad commentary on our society.