@tzimmer_history I don’t think you can understand this culture without looking at a couple of beliefs in which it is rooted:

1. There are bad people out to get you who are willing to use violence.

2. They will not be deterred by law or custom.

To someone who believes those two things, it follows quite logically that the only way to not be killed for the change in your wallet is to be better armed than those who would do you harm.