@Isaac Out of curiosity. I have a question for you. I don't want to say you are wrong. Because possibly you are not.
But have you ever lived in a country that Gun is banned? I mean living. Not a trip or stay. Because what tourists see is different with what residents feel. I mean have you ever lived a life in a country without side arms?
My wife (of 25 years) is from Mexico and I have spent a lot of time there. Admittedly, it is not living there - i.e., I didn't rent an apartment for a long period of time. But it also certainly was not the tourist experience, it was living with family for weeks at a time and I go there quite a bit now for 25 years. I have been thoroughly immersed in the culture, society, norms, habits and general daily life of the northern portion of Mexico (Chihuahua state).
The average person does not carry a gun, in fact it is rare for the "average good citizen" to carry a gun, and the overall situation is horrible. For the most part, the people who have guns are criminals - not just cartels, but muggers, robbers, kidnappers, etc.
The only people who ended up with guns are the bad guys, and the good guys usually have no defense.
I am also aware that there are countries where there are virtually no guns and things have worked great!
It just depends, obviously, on many factors, probably dozens of factors ranging from corruption to consistent prosecution to cultural norms and many more.
I will not attempt to make any blanket statement that would apply to all countries as that would be impossible & silly. In some countries the "normal people don't have guns" mantra exists, and they are quite peaceful. In other countries the same mantra exists, and they are horribly violent. It would be a waste of time to try to extrapolate a single, simple rule based on just those few facts, but my experience with Mexico may give you at least something to think about. In fact the situation with Mexico is so bad (in some places, during some seasons), that if I lived there, I would probably begin the process of secretly owning and sometimes carrying a gun even if it was illegal.
Note: I have noticed much non-American reaction to this discussion centers around the assumption that Americans wish the situation to be exactly as it is. That would be a false assumption. As Pat said, if guns didn't exist, that would be wonderful. I have no affinity to them.
But once you are born in an environment where guns are prolific, you only have two choices: Join the club and get one too, or be defenseless.
Despite the popular stereotypes of Americans, those 99% of the citizenry who make choice #1 are not necessarily gun-crazy-lovers.
They just don't want to be defenseless. Maybe you would do the same thing? We have a saying here "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight"
If I could push a button tomorrow and guns would then cease to exist, I would consider doing so. I don't love guns, but I do value my life.