I’m from a pretty rural area in the south and yes, hunting is common which is why many have guns. IMO it’s more ethical to know exactly what the process is to get your meat and take its life respectfully than to just eat something from a grocery store that suffered its entire life and know nothing of the process it took to get it on a shelf. Like you said, it is definitely healthier in most cases because it’s grass fed and free range. Store bought meat tends to be way fatter than it should be. One time I visited a chicken plant/house and the poor chickens were bred to have so much meat and fat that most of them couldn’t walk or could barely limp. No way in hell that’s healthy for the chicken or the human consuming it.

It’s also important for the environment for humans to hunt because surprise, we’re also animals, and we’re an important part of the food chain especially because we took out or greatly reduced most of the other big predators like mountain lions and wolves. Deer and rabbit overpopulation can become a HUGE problem if there aren’t people sustainably hunting and keeping their population in check. Most important thing is getting a clean shot and making sure that the animal doesn’t suffer.

Another reason people keep guns is for pests and the likes. One time a snake got into my chicken coop and decided it was a good idea to eat one of the fake ceramic eggs that I keep on the nests so that the chickens know where to lay. Eating that egg was a death sentence for that poor snake, and a slow and painful one at that. Since I don’t own any guns I called my neighbor over and he shot it so it didn’t have to suffer anymore. There’s a lot of situations like that that happen out in the country where a gun is useful.

Of course, there’s always the MAGA nutcases who hoard guns like assault rifles because they think that Armageddon is coming or something. Or the people that use them as a status symbol or to intimidate others. Those people are obnoxious and I don’t want anything to do with them. We need to teach much more reverence for guns because they can easily take someone’s life. They’re not some toy to display.