...or their minds are very scary places.

That's a bullseye. For both interpretations (i.e. they are scary people, or they are scared).

I have always been struck by the religious who believe that crime is worse than it's ever been, that war is more prevalent than ever, that suffering is more prevalent than ever. But if you look at reality, none of that is true. Crime statistics indicate that crime is way down just in my lifetime. There are a lot of skirmishes, but only one war presently. As a percentage of population affected, war is affecting very few people (though that is of little consolation to those whose lives are being drastically affected), disease is way down, suffering is way down, fewer people (as a percentage of population) are in poverty, etc. But try to convince a religious person of that. "We are in end times!" Blah blah. Nonsense.

Many people feel they are under imminent threat from "the other"; that they are going to be victimized at any moment. This is fed by media outlets ("if it bleeds, it leads"), and social media, among others. So, "with all that chaos and evil", people feel the need to lock and load. To protect against a threat that is miniscule in reality.