Brangdon, I think its more attributed to the social mores of each country; here, the gangster image that permeates our larger cities, and a significant amount of our smaller ones, exemplify violence through their music and actions. I mean, in the past month, we have had 2 NFL players get shot; one shot himself accidentally, the other was shot by someone else. There are role models for inner city youth. Unfortunately, their violence is seen as something positive; going to jail is seen as a badge of honor; a finishing school for criminals of sorts. Until THAT lifestyle is changed, we will always have the violence within our culture; be it unarmed muggings, stabbings, shootings, or drive by fraggings (well, hopefully it wont come to that!). Criminals here are armed illegally; to disarm our country simply wont happen. Too many people own firearms legally, and would hide them. It is something that simply isnt feasible; all you are doing is disarming the legal owners; criminals will continue to do what they do.