Gun Violence Is a Full-Blown National Crisis

[gejohnston]

71. I live in a country now with no guns,

With a confirmed firearm possession rate of 5.6 private guns per 100 population,19 civilian gun ownership in Ireland has yet to reach one-third the rate of 17.4 firearms per 100 people calculated across 15 countries of the European Union.20 In a 2007 UN survey, 12.4 per cent of Irish respondents reported that they, or someone else in their household owned a firearm or an air rifle.21

It has been estimated that as many as 150,000 unregistered firearms might also be in private possession in Ireland,22 suggesting a total civilian stockpile of 393,000. If true, this would yield a rate of 9.1 private firearms per 100 population, both legal and illegal.19

http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/cp/ireland

If the person you're defending yourself against doesn't have a gun, you don't as often need a gun to defend yourself.

not true when you look at disparity of force. Someone in a wheelchair against the bare fists of a college middle linebacker would need a gun. So would anyone defending against someone with a machete.

And of course a criminal without a gun is MUCH less likely to break into a house full of people.

Yet that is most Australian murders

Those sorts of crimes barely register in Europe, because of the scarcity of guns.

Actually, home invasions are more common in other countries than the US because they are afraid of getting shot. According to the Wright Rossi study, criminals are more afraid of an armed victim than the police. BTW, there have been scandals of officials doctoring statistics, especially in the UK.

Having lived away from guns for over a decade, and being much much safer, and knowing my kids will NEVER see a gun ... well... let's just say I know what's possible.

Yet, Ireland has about the same murder rate as Vermont and Wyoming did in 2010. 60 percent of Wyoming homes have at least one privately owned firearm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States_by_state
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate