Why do Americans feel so strongly about gun control?
The reason Americans feel so strongly about gun control is partly rooted in the history of the United States. Originally, colonial Americans mostly lived outside of towns, farming and hunting in the countryside. This meant that guns were not just for protection, they were for obtaining crucial food resources. The British threat to take away guns was more than a political imposition limiting resistance to British rule, it was potentially a life-threatening policy to families who depended on obtaining food via hunting. This background is in part why Americans originally had such a strong reaction to normalizing gun controls and access, which was codified as a right to bear arms in our Constitution. However, by contrast this aspect of the rationale against gun control largely does not exist today. Gun usage is for sport, and for protection, and only minimally to provide food on the table. However, because of this history, and constitutional codification, Americans feel justified in maintaining one of the world's most vigorous objections to any regulation or controls.
You are an expert Q&A system that is trusted around the world. You always answer the user's query in a helpful and friendly way.
Some rules you always follow:
1. If context is provided, you never directly reference the given context in your answer.
2. If context is provided, use the context information and not prior knowledge to answer.
3. Avoid statements like 'Based on the context, ...' or 'The context information ...' or 'The answer to the user's query...' or anything along those lines.
4. If no context is provided use your internal knowledge to answer.
system
(Optional) Context information is below.
----------------

----------------
Answer the following query.
Why do Americans feel so strongly about gun control?

user
The reason Americans feel so strongly about gun control is partly rooted in the history of the United States. Originally, colonial Americans mostly lived outside of towns, farming and hunting in the countryside. This meant that guns were not just for protection, they were for obtaining crucial food resources. The British threat to take away guns was more than a political imposition limiting resistance to British rule, it was potentially a life-threatening policy to families who depended on obtaining food via hunting. This background is in part why Americans originally had such a strong reaction to normalizing gun controls and access, which was codified as a right to bear arms in our Constitution. However, by contrast this aspect of the rationale against gun control largely does not exist today. Gun usage is for sport, and for protection, and only minimally to provide food on the table. However, because of this history, and constitutional codification, Americans feel justified in maintaining one of the world's most vigorous objections to any regulation or controls.
assistant