The anthropologist Clifford Geertz studied the phenomenon of cock fighting in Bali and produced a lengthy study of his work about the culture of the Balinese cock fight. Males there groomed their cocks for years and years before putting them into a fight. They carried their cocks around with them, nurtured their cocks, stroke them, and talked to their cocks. then the state decided it was time to shut down the cock fights citing animal cruelty standards and the like, but the Balinese people resisted for years, and held their cock fights regardless.
Reason was because the cock symbolized something more important for Balinese males. Their cock was their cock!
Similarly, American gun lovers are merely showing off their cocks when they strut around with their assault rifles and pistols.