McG, I'm pretty sure that the fact that our laws require a person to show a very good reason for possession of a firearm, and that 'self-protection against "The Bad Guys" or "Mad-Dog Killers" is NOT acceptable as a good reason within those laws, the vast majority of people who might otherwise be attracted to gun-ownership or possession are deterred from even considering it.

But I agree that the majority of British people rightly regard private ownership of guns, and the willingness to use them against other human beings, as an obscenity and a perversion in a civilised society.