Whatever the reason be it cultural, environmental, or ?? the US violent crime rate even removing all gun related incidents is still significantly high then most other first world countries.
Agree. Now imagine that the public have over 8 million (maybe as many as 15 million) semi-automatic "military-style" rifles. (These are the NRA's numbers, FWIW — I don't think anyone knows the number of AR-15s, etc. are in U.S. citizens possession.)
I'm not sure what relevance the number of civilian-owned rifles ("military-style" or otherwise) has to the daily life of a police officer. concealable weapons (mainly pistols) are of much greater concern when interacting with the public.
Yes, I think semi-auto pistols (concealed or otherwise) are likely a bigger concern for police for things like traffic stops.
I can't seem to find the number of semi-automatic pistols, only the larger number of firearms (all types) — thought to be close to or over 300 Million in the U.S.
I think the bigger problem is that we completely underfund mental health, education, and community oriented programs, and then ask an armed police force to pick up the slack.
They have been asked to enforce the 1.5m rule, encountered agression and started protesting because ... they want to be armed.
( They have called for arms before COVID )
edit: Oh, forgot to add : we have these 'enforcers', and their responsibilities have been extended, because we basically defunded the police.