We have access to guns, the difference is that to own one (at least in Norway) you have to have a purpose for it and "protection" is not one of them. If you loo

We have access to guns, the difference is that to own one (at least in Norway) you have to have a purpose for it and "protection" is not one of them. If you look at the statistics, Norway and Sweden are number 10 and 9 respectively when it comes to the number of guns pr person. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_c...) To own a pistol for instance, you need to be an active member of a gun club for 6 months before buying one, and then you need to keep it at the gun club for 6 months before bringing it home. At home you are only allowed to store it in a locked cabinet without ammo and the only time you are allowed to transport it is to and from the gun range. In the US you have the expectation that a gun will provide "protection", i.e. you can buy a gun with the purpose of harming others. I think this is the biggest difference.