Just to correct something you have said. Guns are not banned in Britain. The situation in the UK is similar to what you describe as being the position in Italy. Many, if not most, farmers have shotguns with permits that must be applied for. Permits for firearms can be applied for by anyone else, and will often be granted. It is even possible, if quite rare, for people to apply for a weapon to be kept for self-protection. More common in the 'bad old days' in the part of Britain that I live in (Northern Ireland) than now. There is an almost complete ban on the ownership of hand-guns, which is probably what you were referring to.

One other point, whatever the rights and wrongs of gun-ownership, why is it that America appears to have more serious abuse of firearms than other countries with similar levels of gun ownership - Canada, Switzerland for example?