RE: "my cold, dead hand"
I am not saying larger population leads to more violence, I'm speaking about Economies of Scale. The countries of the UK are not dealing with the inequalities spread out over such large geographic regions. Because of the density, it is perhaps easier or more cost effective to serve the underserved. The overreach of our federal system and the imbalances it faces are not reflected in any single country or the EU as a whole.
Correct, the EU has to deal with stronger levels of national autonomy than any states within the US. However, it still has a considerable number of gun deaths - though less "violence": old data http://www.flemishpeaceinstitute.eu/6700-deaths-firearms-eu-each-year
Hey, if you can do google searches for one thing, you can do them for another. None of this is opinion...in my opinion :)
I have no narrative, only observations. Get over that flu
We all have a narrative, Michael. Everything is subjective, pretty much, and we are all at the mercy of how we have developed and what we have experienced.
I am happy to accept that America has its own set of challenges, but trust me, there are an awful lot of "underserved" people in the EU. There are a lot of inner-city problems and poverty. I have to say that I don't understand the point you are making here with respect to economies of scale. That's not to say your point is invalid! I genuinely don't understand the distinction you are seeking to make here.
The source you cited says that 1000 people are murdered by guns in the EU annually. That's 1000 in a population of nearly 750m people. America, by contrast, has 10000 murders in a population of 325m.
That's a gigantic difference, I am sure you would agree.
I have a feeling that we probably agree more than we disagree here. We seem to be making heavy weather of it, though!
The divide is too big between us to continue this conversation effectively
That's disappointing, but if you don't see any mileage in talking then it is pointless to try.