Conservatives retreated to the US Constitution and became Constitutionalists.
No they haven't. They've cherry picked certain parts of the Constitution to emphasize, like the Second Amendment, and then twisted them beyond recognition. Conservatives ignore the "militia qualifier" as the reason for the right to bear arms. The Founders lived in an era of single shot muskets, and canon. The country had no real infrastructure or government, and the land wasn't entirely settled or safe.
Anyone who thinks that their guns will protect them from a "tyrannical government" should google the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas. The government drove a tank through their heavily armed "fortress". It was over in minutes. If a tyrannical government comes for you, you're fucked. They have smart missiles, killer drones, tanks and nukes, not to mention "The Mother of All Bombs". Time for sensible gun control legislation that gets hand guns off the streets, and reduces the body count.
Other countries have managed to protect the rights of hunters and the 'rural way of life", without turning their nations into armed camps, with more guns than people. Americans always quote "self defence" and fear being left "defenceless" without their guns, even as 35,000 Americans die every single year, in gun violence and police are shooting over 1000 citizens per year.