This may be because you are prohibited from doing so (unless you are going hunting or target shooting). So the mindset may adapt to match the laws that are in place. Here in the US as soon as the government says "You can't do that!", then everybody wants to do it - whether they need to or not. And the mindset here leans more towards telling the government to get out of our private lives and personal decisions. Well, you can see how well THAT worked! I didn't say it was always fruitful, but that's the typical mindset. I think Americans may trust their government less than Canadians trust theirs. "Throw the bums out!" is a typical feeling around here at election times, I don't know about in Canada.