IN PIX: Americans simply love their GUNS!

Half of the mass shootings since 1982 in the United States have involved high-capacity magazines. In addition to the Newtown and Tucson tragedies, high-capacity magazines were used in mass shootings at Fort Hood, Virginia Tech, Aurora, and Oak Creek.

The US Senate last month rejected a White House-backed strong gun control bill, with President Barack Obama slamming the decision as "shameful" and accusing the lawmakers of surrendering to the powerful firearms lobby.

So what explains this country's attachment to guns?

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Todd Engle (C) and Mary Rose Engle (R) hold weapons as they pose for a photograph with a man dressed as Santa Claus at the Scottsdale Gun Club in Scottsdale, Arizona

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Family members watch as 11-year-old Mark takes aim with an AR-15 style assault rifle on the exhibit floor of the George R. Brown Convention Center, the site for the National Rifle Association (NRA)'s annual meeting in Houston, Texas

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Connor Kennedy, 7, from Farmingdale, New York, holds the M4 carbine rifle of a marine from 1st Battalion 9th Marines Charlie Company 2nd Platoon during a demonstration put together by the Marines as part of Fleet Week in East Meadow, New York

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Sam Sletager fires his shotgun at ducks during a hunt along the Pend Oreille River near Sandpoint, Idaho.

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High School students in a squad shoot on a firing range as they take part in training excercises at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

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A man fires his handgun along a mountain range in Buckeye, Arizona

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A member of the North Florida Survival Group and his young son gather their rifles before heading out to perform land navigation and enemy contact drills during a field training exercise in Old Town, Florida, The group trains children and adults alike to handle weapons and survive in the wild.

The group passionately supports the right of U.S. citizens to bear arms and its website states that it aims to teach "patriots to survive in order to protect and defend our Constitution against all enemy threats". 

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A man with a firearm listens to Pastor Ken Pagano during the "Open Carry Celebration" at New Bethel Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Around 200 members of the church complied with a request asked to bring their unloaded handguns for a one-day celebration of the Second Amendment which stipulates the right to bear arms.

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Gun dealer Tom Mannewitz displays several United States-made assault-style rifles inside his Dallas, Texas gun shop.

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Civil War re-enactors gather before the re-enactment for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of First Manassas/Bull Run, in Manassas, Virginia

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A group of local public school teachers from nearby schools use rubber training guns as they practice drills on disarming an attacker during a teachers-only firearms training class offered for free at the Veritas Training Academy in Sarasota, Florida

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Armed Maricopa County Sheriff posse members draw their weapons on a suspect during a simulated school shooting in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

Controversial Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, who styles himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," has enlisted action film star Steven Seagal to lead a training exercise for members of his armed volunteer posse on how to respond to a school shooting. 

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US Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks on during a pheasant hunt in Adel, Iowa

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Hand guns that were turned in by their owners are seen in a trash bin at a gun buyback held by the Los Angeles Police Department following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, in Los Angeles, California.

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Spectators watch as fireworks used as targets are ignited by tracers from shooters firing their guns during the Big Sandy Shoot in Mohave County, Arizona.

The Big Sandy Shoot is the largest organized machine gun shoot in the United States attended by shooters from around the country. Vintage and replica style machine guns and cannons are some of the weapons displayed during the event.

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Andrew Josequera, 11, prepares to shoot at a target at the Los Angeles gun club in Los Angeles

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Kenny Gaudette makes his way to the next shooting station as he competes in the Primitive Biathlon in Dalton, New Hampshire.

The Dalton Gang, a single action shooting club, holds the annual Primitive Biathlon in which competitors wear snowshoes and fire single shot muzzle loaded firearms at four stations along a 1.75 mile course.

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John Jauch looks at a Barrett Model 95 bolt-action sniper rifle during the National Rifle Association's 139th annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina

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An employee demonstrates gun safety to clients at the Los Angeles gun club in Los Angeles.

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