Quote Originally Posted by Feign View Post
I agree with a majority of your post, but there's one part that you might be confused about.

Only the absolute bottom of the IQ scale in the US would ever consider an actual gun to be a toy, and the ones who do wouldn't likely be able to legally buy a handgun (or even carry one they already own) in over half the states. While several rural families do teach their children to hunt at a fairly young age, they teach responsibility along with it.
Second, there are only a few states where buying and carrying a pistol is a largely unregulated process, judging the entire country on them is like making an opinion on the entire EU based on Amsterdam's drug policies. For the rest of the country, buying a handgun requires a background check and licence almost as difficult to obtain as one in the UK with the important exception that America recognizes self defense as a reason for carrying a gun.
That's the big difference between the US and other places with regards to firearms, is that the use of a firearm (or in the UK even a knife) in self-defense is kind of an unfathomable concept to most non-Americans.
You can't buy a handgun in the UK. There are a few special exemptions but generally they are not allowed. Even the Olympic shooting team have to practise offshore as they are not legal in the UK at all. Anyone that actually owns one has to keep it at a special location, normally in lockup at UK airports and they can only be taken out of there with special license when they are going abroad. The main exceptions of owning one is if you are a licensed slaughter person.There are other exceptions like gamekeepers or dangerous animal breeders, all few and far between.