Much like how Kinder Eggs are banned in the US but not Canada (and many other countries). Besides firearms, the US is in many ways as regulation and control obsessed as many state-heavy European countries - probably much more so given the size and capitalization of the various governments and agencies, plus the breadth of industry there - despite having the image of being a place of liberty and freedom.
One of the problems is the hysteria of the press whenever anything close to bad happens. It's created a culture of hyper critical control systems over defaulting to trusting the common sense of individuals, the ability of information to disseminate to educate peoplel (warning labels, stories of people getting hurt educating people on what not to do, etc), and the ability of parents.
I read through the archives of some Russian world traveller's extensive photo blog a couple years back, and I remember him commenting more than once that one of the most striking things about the US is how many posted regulations and notices there are compared to other countries. None but a couple other countries (I think Australia was one) were similar to the US in that regard.
One of the problems is the hysteria of the press whenever anything close to bad happens. It's created a culture of hyper critical control systems over defaulting to trusting the common sense of individuals, the ability of information to disseminate to educate peoplel (warning labels, stories of people getting hurt educating people on what not to do, etc), and the ability of parents.