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Things are changing in the UK, but mostly guns are a kind of exotic, American addition to some of the inner city gangs. There's always been a few sawnoff shotguns about used in armed robberies and the like, but the weapon of choice for your average criminal/gang member/psycho tends to be a blade of some sort.
Now that's partly because guns are much harder to get, and carry much harsher penalties. It's also a lot easier to quick ditch a blade than a gun, I would imagine. But there's also a different relationship with blades. I know people who fetishise swords and switchblades. And the amount of smalltime wannabe drug dealers with machetes or knock off samurai swords is pretty high.
They're much more embedded in our culture. Or they were. These days the proliferation of US tv shows where guns seem ubiquitous may be changing those relationships. As indeed the decades of conflict and 'terror'.
[eta] there's also the country/hunting set of course. But they're not the same as US country folk :p
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