@ nicolaou: I appreciate your comments very much. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I want to address this first:
but from my limited European perspective the heart of the matter is being missed.
Maybe this is the core of misunderstanding any culture or country.
To me, it seems odd that a government is in such fear of its people it doesn't want them to own firearms; and, it's equally as strange that citizens are so untrusting of each other they fear their neighbor having a gun. That's my perspective.
I live in the USA and have never seen or felt the things Europeans or Canadians describe about their perceptions of what life is like in the USA. I do not live in fear. I live in a State where open-carry and concealed carry are legal, yet I just about never see someone carrying a gun even though they have every legal right to do so. As far as concealed carry, I don't worry about that either, for one very simple reason: a person who has a CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon) permit is a law-abiding citizen who's following the rules and being responsible.
Perhaps the word 'psychotic' is inflammatory but America does appear to perceive or interpret this lethal issue differently to everyone else
Most likely true. But the perceptions you have adopted are based on your vantage point- across an ocean, on a different continent, in a different culture and country. I think anyone viewing life in the USA from the outside must think it's like the Wild West- everyone carries a gun, you can't go grocery shopping without getting shot at, out-of-control violence. It just isn't so. I feel no fear no matter where I go. I don't see or feel anything that causes me concern. Generally, I think Americans are no different than anyone else. The sensationalized news that we get here, and that you get, skew the reality of daily life to appear as being something it is not. No news outlet airs stories about Joe Average Citizen who keeps his guns locked up safely and didn't shoot anybody; but some nutjob who shoots up a school or gang-related shootings always make the news. Unfortunately, the idiotic very small minority always makes the responsible majority look bad.
@Simon: There is something in the American psyche that seems to focus on fear.
Fear is a natural human emotion and not limited to Americans. I am an American but I don't feel the fear you seem to think I have, nor does anyone I know. I'm sure there are people that feel massive paranoia and fear about everything, but that's most likely a mental dysfunction rather than a citizenship function. They'd probably feel the same fears living in Canada or the U.K.
I think the obsession with guns is a symptom of this mentality
Obsession? Strong word and, in my opinion, incorrect. Just because many Americans believe in personal protection and legally owning firearms doesn't make them obsessed. People in every country and culture have issues they feel passionate about. In the USA, people feel very passionate about liberty and the ability to protect themselves.
I find it interesting that the people most vocal about American freedoms, especially in regard to the gun issue, don't live here and never have lived here. If the day comes where Americans sense some kind of 'emergency' situation where their right to bear arms needs to be changed, they'll change it. It's one of the grand things about a free society and free markets.
Having said all that, I think if I lived in the US I'd probably want to be armed to the teeth and shooting at anyone who looked at me funny. You never know, they may think you're looking funny at them and just be about to defend themselves ...
And you say WE live in fear? Wow. I am a gun owner, have been most of my life, but I never felt the need to be "armed to the teeth" or shoot somone for looking at me. That may be your pattern of thinking, but it's not mine and certainly not that of any other gun owner I've ever met.