I am European (Danish) and I agree that I can't wrap my head around the concept of feeling the need to carry a firearm for my own protection. However, I don't think that the LEO/civilian ratio has any say in this. Not to me at least.

The fundamental thing for me (and many other Europeans, I guess) is that I find it difficult to understand the notion that we are all safer if we all carry guns.

I mean, I get the logic - you can stop a bad guy with a gun if the good guys also have guns - I just don't agree with it. To me, the horrific number of shootings and gunrelated deaths and injuries in the US compared to Europe proves the point, that a society with few guns is safer than a society with many. But I understand that this is not proof, it's just opinion.

Again, I respect and agree with you that it's mostly a matter of culture. I just find it so hard to accept that guns can ever be compared to fire extinguishers and seat belts. To me that's a false analogy. You just can't harm anyone else with your seat belt and that's really the difference.