Lela,

Gun control in most of Europe (as in US and the Euro colonies), is a modern invention, dating for the most part to post-WWI era when establishment fears of large numbers of armed and trained veterans, coinciding with rise of anarchism and Socialism (usually blamed on foreigners, usually subtly or not, eastern Euro Jews) as political threats to estab. order. Politicians made the same claims of increased crime rates and danger to society to disarm the law-abiding in what were already very low violence societies. England's first substantive restriction, for instance, was a licensing program enacted in 1920. Restrictions gradually increased to the confiscation of registered firearms and handgun bans of the '80s.

However, what is ignored is -none- of these laws shows a stat sig decrease in rate trends of homicide or violent crime from prior to enactment. They show -no- measurable impact on public safety. England, for instance, has had effectively the same homicide rate since 1860's.