The Internet is a great medium for news. But I think at this time, most people are still deciding what to think based on what they see on their news channels and TV shows. The Internet will be the next paradigm with the upcoming generations, I think.
I find it difficult to feel strongly about gun control in America when I don't live there or have any real connection to the place. I don't understand the gun obsession, but am reluctant to judge others' culture and values when I know how defensive it makes me when people from outside judge mine.
What I find more difficult to get my head around is the mistrust they have of their government. Like, where does that come from? Were there specific incidents in history where the American government did terrible things to its own people? I can't recall any that I know of.
My own political views are unfashionably pro-American. Even stuff like the NSA scandal and Guantanamo Bay, yeah, they maybe took it too far, but the world is a dangerous place with a lot of fanatics out there and you need strong leadership in the face of that. Maybe you disagree with their methods, but at the end of the day we're on the same team here.
The US is one of the few countries in the world with a totally free media, freedom of speech, everybody has access to education etc. What more exactly is it that you want? Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think the US government is all that shady, certainly no more so than any other government. I'm sure a lot goes on behind the scenes that people aren't aware of, but it doesn't mean there's anything sinister in that. There's no logical reason why the government would be somehow plotting against its own people.
Edit: And on the subject of gun control (apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere in this huge-ass thread), it could well be that in our lifetimes the advance of technology will make restrictions on gun sales obsolete; we could be 3D printing our own in some years.