I lived in Germany for six years with some of the most restrictive gun laws on Earth. I seem to remember very few gun homicides or gun armed criminal gangs roaming the streets engaging in shootouts. I also remember that every gun incident made national news. Most crimes were done at knifepoint, IIRC.

When we first moved back here to Leavenworth, my wife (who is German) turned on the 10PM local newscast. Five violent murders and a drive-by on that day alone. I was even taken aback, having not been used to that level of violence in Germany.

After being able to walk the streets of almost every major northern European city and town at 2 AM relatively safely, I really wonder how much our devotion to relatively unregulated gun posession is making us safer. I wouldn't have walked the streets of Richmond, VA (my hometown) or most mid-large sized US cities at 2AM.