Firstly, I WAS a bit rude, but I thought your post was a bit silly.
The British are allowed to own any gun except an assault rifle (banned in 1988, very few owned one), handguns on the mainland (banned 1997 with some exceptions like semi autos). The vast majority of the UK were and are rifles and shotguns. UK gun ownership is estimated at around 2.3m weapons.
To be a UK gun owner, you have to have a firearms licence (for rifles and other guns) and/or a shotgun licence. To get one, you have to go through a process where you have to be vetted. And a member of a gun club.
Here’s a good link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_the_United_Kingdom
Thank you, I had logged off the FR and saw your latest post just now. Plan on reading the wiki link tonight. I distinctly remember reading a few years ago about a guy in England that was put on trial for using his umbrella or cane to defend himself. Hence, my post. Of course, the possibility is always there that it was an erroneous information, I can’t recall the source now.