Why didn't native American's independently create have Guns?

In his book “Guns Germs and Steel” Jared Diamond emphasized that environment is the most significant factor in explaining why humans in different societies and different locations have developed differently. This makes complete sense, today many Sociologists believe that humans are not innately different from one another in their thought processes, but are simply equipped with different ways of responding to the same situation (Edward Said). There is nothing really controversial about Diamond’s theory.

I agree with Diamonds theory, but believe he does not place enough importance on other factors than geography in why human groups developed differently. After all, not all tropical island cultures throughout the world developed the same language, technology, cultures or tactics of war. People of the numerous islands of Polynesia may have had and have similar cultures due to their similar environmental circumstances as Diamond states. He does however neglect the influence that the sea traveling nature and constant interactions of these people may have had in their developing similar technologies and ways. Diamond in fact claims that they developed similar cultures in isolation of one another, but this is very improbable as they are known to have been extremely gifted boatmen. People on the islands of St. Kitts, Hawaii, Okinawa and the Galapagos all developed complexly different cultures despite similar climate and being small islands at sea.

One of the most interesting parts of “Guns, Germs and Steel” in my opinion was Diamonds description of the event that sparked his interest in and the publishing of his work. The statement his friend from New Guinea made regarding the different cargo Europeans and his fellow countrymen had lead Diamond to consider what caused the differences which exist in technological advantages todayand the different resources that lead to farmer agricultural societies in some places. Those people who had farmer societies developed superior types of technology. I don’t understand Diamond’s thought process when he uses the example of the Natives in America however. He mentions the disadvantages of Native Americans, but America is so rich in resources that I highly doubt the resources to build agricultural and technologically advanced societies could not have developed as they did in Europe. The question is why didn’t they? Was there actual a difference in the culture rather than resources of these people that lead to different weaponry, medicinal and architectural developments?