Originally Posted by
whatsmyname
Can you be more specific about other countries (war zones excluded) where it's a cultural necessity to carry a weapon (not that carrying a weapon in the US is a cultural necessity)?
Not a country but a culture/religion: Sikhs carry knives as part of their belief. Also other beliefs based on violence like the Thugee and Assassins, where carrying a weapon was more incidental and integral to what they were doing than a primary practice. I haven't seen a picture of a Shining Path member without a gun.
Traditional Scottish attire includes a short knife.
A friend of mine brought me a spear from Tanzania--he spent two years there with his wife in the Peace Corps. I asked if it was some kind of touristy thing, and he said no, all the males in the village he was staying in carried them. I asked why and he said "Thieves and hyenas." He also reported that them what could afford guns, carried them fairly casually, but that it seemed as much of a status symbol as for any useful purpose for all the (non)use they got.
I'm sure there are more, but these are a few I know of right off the bat. I'm really glad to live in a part of the world, in a time when I don't feel it necessary to carry a weapon. Having said that, I am also glad I live in a "must issue" concealed-carry permit state which specifically has wording in the constitution saying no laws shall be passed which might infringe on my right to own firearms.