"An
armed society is a polite society", which comes from Robert Heinlein’s
"Beyond This Horizon" where duels may easily occur when someone feels
that they have been wronged or insulted is attributed as a custom that
keeps order and politeness. One difference, Heinlein's world had a code
where someone who didn't want to duel could wear a yellow ribbon.
That doesn't seem to be the case in the US.
