I totally agree about the societal issues. I think a failing to address these issues is a failure of a lot of governments, not just the US. I don’t think you can ignore the role of guns though. The US has the second highest rate of gun violence ownership in the world and the highest rate of gun violence (amongst modern western democracies). You also have one of the highest rates of homocide in the western world. That seems to be a pretty bit coincidence.