Unhinged people can get guns here too if they are really driven to find them. It's just that they aren't sold in the aisle next to breakfast cereals.

Making them harder to own, restricting the types and uses.. We have guns. Quite legitimately. A friend has an impressive collection of small bore rifles and takes them to Bisley and other ranges, came close to getting in the Olympic team a few years ago. I have a man keep the rabbit population in check in some fields I have for that matter.

But a few lines in the sand seem to make our situation comfortable for me. They are not for self defence. No pistols or any other small arms that can be concealed. Evidence of one of three broad categories; hunting / land control, organised sport and collecting antiques. The latter still precludes working models of banned categories. Kept in certified locked containers, subject to police registration and inspection and applications to own include searches, character references and interview by police officers.

I genuinely think many US firearm owners would easily fit in that definition, or at the very least something just as sensible. I reckon the self defence idea is at best a statement of failure of community safety and at worst a dangerous illogical concept.

There are many things The USA do better than here, but guns don't fit in the list.