I think you're missing his point. The point is that is wrong to compare the UK with the US. Gun ownership in the UK was never widespread - in fact it was extremely rare. If you were a housebreaker or a mugger, the last thing you needed to worry about was whether your victim was going to be armed. It would be like being struck by a meteorite. So how does it make any sense to say the gun ban encouraged crime? Criminals were never deterred by guns (because they were so rare) in the first place. Get it?