Frankly most other western nations have stronger gun controls than the United States. An exception is Switzerland, and it has a relatively low rate of violent crime (though, unlike the US, it has quite strict gun policies). Vermont has some of the strongest gun rights in the nation, and it has one of the lowest rates of violent crime as well. (While gun control is an important factor in affecting rates of violent crime, it's far from the only one; they depend on a lot of other sociological factors as well, which is why Chicago , for example, has such a high crime despite strict gun control.)