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Hello Kimse, thank you for visiting to learn about a uniquely American concept in the "civilized" world.
One thing you must realize, is that any show you may have seen on TV is likely to be severely biased against firearms ownership.
Here in America, we have the Constitutional Right to own and carry firearms--for protection against any who would do us harm (criminal, foreign, or our own government). This Right is pre-existing, meaning that while the Constitution recognizes it, it does not grant it--that Right (to self defense) is inherent in ALL PEOPLE.
While America has more handgun related deaths and crime than most of Europe, you can not just take that singular fact and extrapolate anything.
Suicides by firearms make up nearly half of firearm deaths, yet as a percentage of suicides throughout the civilized world, the U.S. is average. So while Americans tend to kill themselves using firearms, other nations' citizens are just as self destructive, they just use other means. Therefore, suicide deaths must be removed from the equation.
Americans use firearms an estimated 2.5 MILLION times a year to defend themselves from criminals. Not every one of those are fired guns. Some are just 'displayed' guns. Those are men, women, and elderly folks, who might otherwise be unable to defend themselves. The "30,000 gun deaths a year" or what ever number used includes those who LAWFULLY discharged their firearms to defend themselves against violence or crime (reported at 2-3K a year), resulting in death of the assailant. That also does not include the 500+ killed by law enforcement each year.
Those convicted of felonies (and even some misdemeanors) are prohibited from purchasing, owning, or possessing firearms. Yet somehow all these repeat offenders aquire weapons, violating the law. So laws to keep firearms out of criminal hands, while a tool for punishment AFTER arrest, does nothing to keep law abiding citizens safe. Even in countries that ban firearms to citizens (Mexico, for example), the 'bad guys' all still have firearms [and remember, of all the firearms seized in Mexico last year, only 7% could be tracked back to the United States. The remaining 93% did not have identifiable markings--so came from other countries. The figure of 70% of guns coming from the U.S. is a half truth--70% of TRACEABLE guns came from here).
Also, while the American criminal is likely to use a firearm to commit violent crimes, violent crime itself is not unique to America. The United Kingdom, for instance, has a horrid violent crime rate, but the suspects usually use clubs, knives, and swords, and operate in larger groups. America also tracks COMMITTED violent crimes, while many countries only track SOLVED crimes. Unfortunately for the British, since the victims have no firearms, they are helpless against multiple assailants with clubs, etc.
When you subtract the number of Lawfully fired weapons and suicides (which we've already covered) form the 20-30K 'gun deaths' toted about, it brings the numbers to a more rational level (perhaps 8K a year). Then you have to removed 'criminal on criminal' violence from that number (gang violence, drug violence, etc). Even in your 'civilized' european countries, organized criminals have weapons and kill one another. The TRUE number of "Victims of Gun Crimes" is only a fraction of that 8,000.
Finally, the cities in America with the highest crime rates are those which BAN firearm carrying and/or firearm ownership. Those cities/states that do not prohibit firearms ownership or carrying have markedly lower crime rates.
I don't expect you to completely understand the American mindset. America was founded by INDIVIDUALS who cherish their rights, freedoms, and have a strong sense of self reliance. Europeans are unacustomed to such concepts. Europe, by comparison, has always been a class society, with those above controlling those below. Control of the populace by the governing has always been a factor in Europe. The fact that so many countries there have given up sovereignty to the EU, and cannot even defend themselves without the United States military, and that (in England, for example) people are expected to submit to aggression and not defend themselves, all is indicative of the mindset there.
