I think he's saying that the guns haven't deterred much when viewed through the lens of a French/American comparison. In a lot of ways, the French are unquesti

I think he's saying that the guns haven't deterred much when viewed through the lens of a French/American comparison. In a lot of ways, the French are unquestionably better off. The whole line of argument is moot though anyway, because with these new technologies I don't think the French will remain better off in those ways for too much longer. Neither guns, nor protests will be effective as deterrents in the face of ubiquitous surveillance. Both will be fairly impotent against these technologies in fact.