"However, it's an extremely controversial topic and perhaps it would lead to a hot discussion."
... perhaps ... 😉
"Weapons are somehow part of the American tradition ..."
There is no mystery. They are based upon the Second Amendment, as part of the Bill of Rights, to the U. S. Constitution - the oldest on earth. To protect us against tyranny, as I state above ...
Beyond what I state above, if any foreign adversary ever felt capable of defeating the U. S. military, before "taking over," they would next face the most heavily armed people on the face of the earth ...
The "Reader's Digest version" of that conversation, started when I'd had enough of my countryman's miserable attempt to defend us in the face of a relentless verbal "assault" from our Aussie comrades (sitting across from us on the train ride down to London ...). Based on his right to hunt squirrels in West Virginia or some such nonsense ...
I started in "With all due respect to my friend here ...", then proceeded to give them a brief history lesson. Which of course included the fact we'd won our independence from "Mother England" by force of arms, while Australia (Canada, etc. ...) had acquiesced in becoming part of the British Commonwealth ...
Using the recent (at that time) example of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in China, to illustrate the helplessness of most people against a tyrannical government, since they've been disarmed, they began to "back pedal" agreeing that was terrible. When I pointed out their Commonwealth Governor (representing a "foreign power" - Britain) had recently dissolved their government, but nothing was done in spite of serious protests, they were embarrassed that I even knew about it ...
Anyway, maybe I'll write more about it some day. Like on Independence Day ... 😉
RE: Little Ru on Risks and Expectations