Australian living in the US here. Yes, self defence is exactly the heart of the problem.

The REAL laws that differentiate countries like Australia, UK, Germany, New Zealand with the US have nothing to do with recent crackdowns or buy-backs or superficial restrictions on magazines or scary looking assault weapons.

Many many many years ago, those countries decided that "self-defence" was NOT a legal reason to own, store, carry and (effectively) use a gun. This creates a feedback cycle, that results in relatively unarmed criminals and police.

In the US, self defence is a legal reason to own and use a gun, and even many anti-gun Americans support this. It's a part of the culture of this country.

imho that is the fundamental difference. It is a giant fork in the road for a society that determines whether guns feature widely in day-to-day life.

I don't think there's a right and wrong, it's just different. But it seems once a path is chosen it is impossible for a society to change to the other path.