Why men feel the need to carry guns

[flamin lib]

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-carlson-gun-carry-culture-20150526-story.html

As men doubt their ability to provide, their desire to protect becomes all the more important. They see carrying a gun as a masculine duty and the gun itself as a vehicle for a hardened kind of care-work — caring for others by shielding them from danger, with the threat of lethal force.
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We tend to get mired in public policy debates that isolate the impact of guns on violence, and nothing more. We wonder to what degree they contribute to suicide rates or homicide rates. But firearms have a larger purpose in our postindustrial society. In Michigan and other places hit hard by the economic downturn, men's guns can address social insecurities far beyond crime.

Yes, it's an Op Ed but an Op Ed based on interviews with gun carriers. From the interviews it seems that the need to carry guns is based, in many cases, on a feeling of impotence.

Interesting to note that the two ads supporting the article are a PSA for HepC and Viagra.