One thing Piers Morgan and his ilk fail to tell people about the United Kingdom’s experience with gun control is that it was not until about 1967 that a police permit was required to buy a standard shotgun. Before then, the laws pertaining to shotguns (and most other types of firearms) were very casual and crime (including homicide) was even lower than what it is today.
The police permit was introduced to divert public attention away from the British government’s abolition of the death penalty in 1965 followed by increased violence in Northern Ireland and a general upswing in violent crime overall.
I can remember reading in David Kopel’s book “The Samurai, The Mountie, and The Cowboy” him stating that the British government meted out the death penalty at a rate that would make Texas look soft on murderers right up until it was abolished.
A great read on the cultural differences. I got a kick of one snippet about Japan's Sword and Samurai outlook. One of their gunsmiths won some international competition (I think) and the government awarded him with - a sword.
1969, it was suspended in 65.