The answer is to have spectacularly high penalties for criminals convicted of a crime with a gun.
Actually, the gun violence statistics in the US are highly inflated and grossly overstated by the international press. The violent crime rate in the UK has been higher than that of the US for some time, something that the UK press is usually not eager to talk about.
Despite international press pronouncements to the contrary, we in the US are not a 'wild west' society where there are High Noon shootings every day and the streets are rivers of blood.
A gun in the hands of a law-abiding citizen is a society's best bet for peace and stability.
Hi Stoat (and Slipperduke)
Re your (Stoat) #24, I say...
Bravo! [sustained applause and standing ovation]
Very well said. We have many friends and relatives in the UK and wish the best for them in their quest for re-establishing their right to defend themselves, at the very least, in their own homes. But the problem is exactly how you stated it. I lived in Britain for many years and worked in the newsmedia there, and the fact is that they (the media) have so thoroughly brainwashed the populace (including the lawmakers) with distortions about guns and gun crime in the U.S., that even many Conservatives in the UK are hesitant to restore their own rights to self-defense.
After the Tony Martin debacle, I was expecting a substantial shift in public opinion in favor of restoring self-defense rights, but since I haven't lived there during or after that period, I don't know whether that has happened.
Perhaps, Slipperduke can offer his two cents (or tuppence!) on the post-Tony Martin environment.
Any thoughts, Slipperduke?