I didn't know you were British but it doesn't really change anything.
And yeah I considered this possibility but it's wrong. in fact crime in a whole is a bit higher in France than in the USA.
Difference is in the USA they rape and kill, and here they simply beat the fuck out of you and steal you ^^
And there are always some shitty places in a country. Go in the 93 in France and you'll see lots of shit trust me. But the important is to see the things as a global situation. On a whole it seems really not bad to have gun control. We get less violent crimes and less rapes.