A lot of people in the states just like to shoot guns, plain and simple. My buddy has three hand guns and 2 rifles, none of which he's ever pointed towards an animal. He has good sized property, and occasionally we'll get together and just shoot anything that will be entertaining to see destroyed. We buy hundreds of blank CD, set them up down range, and just empty clip after clip. I don't even need to shoot real guns to be satisfied. As I said earlier, I have several high powered pellet pistols that are equally fun, and even just coloring shit with paintball guns is fun.
In many of the neighboring cities surrounding my old town, there are some pretty shitty neighborhoods. I know over a dozen people with illegal firearms, just for the sake of protection. All but maybe 2 of them have actually fired the weapon. One of them, whom I am good friends with, put the clip in the day he got it and has since never disengaged the safety.