Bright-

I think the reason that Europe has less of a per-capita homicide rate than the US is due to social reasons rather than the availability of firearms.

There are countries absolutely swimming in firearms that have murder rates lower than the US (Macedonia, Albania et. al for example not to mention Finland).

Americans have come to view violence as acceptable, even entertaining. News networks have a saying "If it bleeds, it leads". This corrosion of the normal Western societal response to violence (shock and horror) leads to individuals thinking it is acceptable to kill someone because they have something they want. Couple that with a culture that glorifies greed above all else and instant gratification then add in single parent families with (necessarily) unsupervised children and you get the mess we have in our major cities.

As I've said before, civilian gun ownership is a moot point for me. Does not affect me one way or the other. As a retired law enforcement officer, I may carry any handgun I qualify with anywhere in the United States. Whether or not I choose to do so is something I believe should be MY choice and not someone else's.

If someone wishes to wait 30-45 minutes for police response in a rural county rather than defend themselves against the depradations of some of our more aggressive citizens, have at it. In the US the police have no responsibility to keep the population safe. NONE. We take a report after the crime has been committed. Of course, as officers, the police do their best but remember- when seconds count the police are only minutes away.

Overly simplistic but it still holds true.