It's not most Americans. It's about a third (which is still huge) and less than half of the population living in a gun owning household.

Then there's a spectrum of how "important" guns are culturally. There are in my experience 3 categories of gun owners.

1. People who own a gun or two. They may take it to the range or hunt, but mostly it's tucked securely away and they don't think about it or use it.

2)Then there are collectors and enthusiasts. They enjoy firearms as a hobby. They have multiple. They watch firearms videos on social media. They go to gun shows and might join a club related to the hobby.

3)Then there are the paranoid psychopaths for whom gun ownership and the insistence that they could have to defend themselves at any time is constantly at the forefront of their mind. They wish they had a reason to shoot someone and may end up shooting someone anyway.

It perpetuates itself. If someone thinks there is a significant probability a burglar might have a gun, getting a gun themselves can increase their chance of survival. This is even ignoring the actual culture around it, where people want guns "just to have them".