Aside from hunting, the answer is simple really. People like to own and fire weapons of all types. Shotguns make the best home defense IMO. I have a small collection myself. I have a tactical shotgun for home defense, a 9mm and 22 pistole for target shooting and I also own an assault riffle that's quite fun to shoot as well. I have property so I can shoot whenever I want. Not much more complicated than that. Some own just a few and others have larger collections.

Generally is has more to do with collecting, operating and associating with other enthusiasts than it does amassing large collections of military grade weapons because they are afraid of some kind of government action against the people. Some individuals do have rather large collections of new and vintage military grade weapons... the one's with LOTS of disposable cash and federal permits. It's not an inexpensive hobby.

Most people in my neck of the woods are pretty well armed. But guess what, very little crime around here. I don't keep much under lock and key and it's known that people don't mess with other peoples stuff.

I have a seven grand commercial zero turn mower and I can park it out by the street with the keys in it and no one will mess with it. In San Diego it would be gone by morning. I have a pretty nice Honda rancher 4 wheeler that I keep in my driveway with the keys hanging in it. It's never touched. In San Diego it wouldn't last the day before it was gone. I don't even lock my shop. I can't imagine doing that in CA.

Back in San Diego the first thing I would do each morning is check to see if my car was still in one piece and I lived on the nice side of town.

Why isn't that the case here? I think one, generally people are more honest and two, everyone is pretty well armed and looks out for their neighbors and their possessions. The crooks know it to. I feel a lot more safe here than in CA, that's for sure. Everyone around me has property and sometimes on the weekends it sounds like a war zone. Not to many bad guys skulking around here at night.