In reply to John of Kemsing, yes things certainly have changed in the UK and guns are being used more often by criminals than used to be the case. However the difference is that these are largely used by gang members and other criminals against each other, rather than when committing crimes against members of the public. It would be very unusual for an ordinary burglar or even a mugger to carry a gun. Armed robbery is treated very seriously by the courts and given far heavier sentences. The police are still ordinarily unarmed and special units attend gun incidents.

Hardly anyone here feels the need to have a gun for their own protection, because it is overwhelmingly unlikely that we will ever be faced with an armed attacker. And while we are not immune from the occasional nutter running amok, it happens far less often because our nutters usually aren't able to lay their hands on guns.