Of course we are mercifully very different from the USA in many ways.
An outsider’s perception is that gun ownership is a big deal because of a willful misreading of the second amendment by vested interest.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. That right is qualified with reference to “a well regulated militia”. Quite sensible in a country which had just fought a war for independence. Seems very obvious that circumstances have changed since the eighteenth century. Today The US has a massive standing army so its citizens do not need to be armed.
There is also the risible myth an armed populace could prevail against a modern army with its drones and tactical nuclear weapons…
Again as an outsider, seems to me gun ownership is permitted as it is because of a corrupt lobbying culture. That allows small vested interest groups to have apolitical influence far exceeding their size and merit. Here I’m thinking of gun ownership, Medical insurance, hospitals and big pharmaceuticals especially. In recent years the IT behemoths can be added I think.