We are founded on the idea that a government must not control the people. The people must control the government.
To that end, our founders ensured that the people would not be controlled by way of being unarmed [think Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler] via bill of rights and specifically 2nd amendment.
So the means the government IS using to try to control us is other than force.
“Why is gun ownership so high in the US?”
Because of all those Cowboy and Indian Movies during and after WW2 ?
Seems reasonable to me.....