As a mother, an expat and most relevantly a resident of Dunblane when Thomas Hamilton took his legally held weapons into our school, this academic is just wrong! I recently spent four weeks ducking and diving my way around my neighbourhood in fear of a sniper. As much as I tried to shelter my eight-year-old, the stress of this experience cannot be measured. Guns have no place in civilised society, find some other solution!
M, Washington,DC, USA

Professor Malcolm isn't saying there'd be fewer shootings (accidental and otherwise) but fewer burglaries, muggings and rapes. This seems unarguably true; the question is whether it's a price worth paying. There is no direct link between civilian gun ownership and crime - the areas of the UK with the highest crime rates are hardly those with the most legally-owned guns. The government should get tough on the causes of crime, not the tools.
Paul Williams, UK

I'm an expat living in Singapore - here there is mandatory death penalty for anyone in possession of a gun. The Police are armed and appear to have a no-nonsense policy. Even with the recent terrorist threats here I've never felt safer. I don't want to live in a country that needs me to carry a gun.
Chris Shaw, Singapore

California has 12m fewer people than the UK but gun crime is 18 times what it is here. The professor's assertions are the kind of empty-headed nonsense that the American gun lobby has been touting for years. The facts and figures tell the true story.
Robert, UK

The stats tell the real story: there are more legal guns in the US and there are more murders. That's all we need to know.
Alex, UK

Perhaps Prof Malcolm should address her comments to the parents of a six-year-old who has just accidentally shot dead her younger brother. This "independent" academic is part of a large and powerful industry determined to continue the trade in weapons that have no purpose other than killing human beings. With this anti-life attitude Americans struggle for my sympathy.
Karl Upston-Hooper, New Zealand

The author compares the mugging rate of London and New York, why didn't she mention the billions of dollars New York has put into hiring more police officers, because this would weaken her argument. If this argument is taken seriously then we have learned nothing from history, in history I mean Columbine High School. Does Britain want its own Columbine?
Kashef, Canada

I have no problem with responsible gun ownership, but lets face it, most people are not responsible enough to own and operate a gun in safety. Gun ownership is not necessary in a society that informs on criminals and helps the police to root out crime in the neighbourhoods.
Greg, Canada

In this country they don't even give the police guns so what hope do we have.
Roger, UK

I'm also an expat living in the US, and I do have guns at home - rifles for deer hunting which I do for food, not sport. That said, I disagree with the commentator, who is clearly unaware of the striking differential in handgun homicides between the US and the UK. There are tens of thousands of these in the US overall, compared to a few dozen in the UK.
Mick, US