The thing is that there is a difference in perception of violence, particularly from here in old Europe vs the US.
But when looking at the OECD stats for crime per inhabitant, well, guess what, for every type of crimes and victimization, the UK has more crime than the US...
One of the countries in Europe with the least crime (all categories) is Switzerland... and guess what? after their military service, the guys keep their assault weapons home... So there are weapons everywhere in that quiet nice little alpine paradise of watchmakers
Most serious research tend to show that after controlling for all other factors (they explain most of the crime level, anyway), guns control tend to reduce criminality. Yet, then, knowing that the probability the guys around have no weapons makes me feel better... as long as don't realize that if someone carries a weapon around, there's a huge probability that this someone is a criminal... then I wish law abiding citizens could carry as well... then I fear they loose their temper, or one stupid drunk kid stole his da's gun, then... well, that goes on forever, doesn't it?
However, a country where the population is well armed is a country where the government is "more controlled" and less inclined to tyranny. No wonder why Switzerland or the US are more "real democracies" than most EU countries nowadays.