Jeff, this argument has gone back and forth for many decades and is not likely to be resolved any time soon. The simple fact is, the US has more murders and violent crime per capita than any other western democracy and it is the ONLY country that allows gun ownership to any real extent.
Now there are reasons why the violence rate is high, and I put income inequity and lack of some key parts of a social safety net high up, but there is no doubt the "right to bear arms" is among the reasons. It is your sacred cow so you have to live with it.
Think what would happen if you put all 350,000,000 Americans in Texas. This is what Europe is. America (and Canada, to some extent) still have the wild west mentality. It is part of our history. You have gun ownership and less of a safety net, we have little gun ownership and a better safety net (better minimum wage laws, health care etc) and we should have the same violence rate you do but we don't. It is way less.
Toronto has roughly 60 murders a year (population 3 million). What does a city that size in the US have?
In regards to "your neighbour lowering his voice", .....knowing there is a gun around does not resolves the situation, it just means it cannot be resolved without the fear of the gun coming out. Without the guns, they could actually yell at each other and get it out of their system.
Just my 2 cents
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