>This story seems to contradict your view. Apparently, there 1.8 million guns licensed in the UK and the numbers are rising, not falling:
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/25/gun-ownership-firearms-certificates
>http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb0511/hosb0511-tabs?view=Binary
>
>Numbers seem to differ, this site states 3,400,000:
>http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/england-and-wales

How does it conflict the observation that no-one in the UK feels the need to carry a gun (unless you are a criminal) to be safe? The same applies to most European countries. About no-one feels the need to carry a gun.

Personally I don't know of any family with a gun in the house. I'm sure there are many registered guns in the Netherlands as well, but there are very strict regulations on usage, transport and storage. most are used because of proffession, hunting or sports.