>I know. Perhaps we as europeans (were most guns were banned because we have experienced the mass destruction of lives over centuries, to which, with all due respect to the war of independence and the civil war, the US has no equivalent by far) have learned the lesson that the widespread availability of guns does not go along with civilization.

nope.
there were different times when
population was armed, unarmed, armed by a patron,
forced to drill with a longbow, forbidden to have swords
(similar to japan. and population had pikes, dirks and daggers)
areas where only a select few are allowed to hunt, others where
the lupara is less common than a kitchen knife but more common than a tractor.

yes the US is different - but you could also argue it is because they
commecialized gun sales and industry without proper education.

pretty certain some of the actions like those killings would in my country
happen to realize in a ghost driver past 200km/H...