Still a long way to go before there are as many as in the USA, where anyone can wave a gun around in order to 'defend themselves'.

The media would like everyone to believe there's a gun-totin' psycho-hoodie waiting round every corner, ready to blow away the first person he sees. It sells papers, but it's bollocks. There are a small number of people of a particular kind, who are settling scores, marking territories and scaring the shit out of those they perceive as their 'enemies' - e.g. the M40 shooting, which turned out to be some sort of Hells-Angel-Score-Settling, and the drug/gang-related 'executions' which we hear about in, e.g., Manchester.

The perception that the UK is full of homicidal gun-owners is false, and is simply a media-tool for selling copy. The vast majority of the UK population will never see a gun.