I live in Aus(New Zealander though) and am married to an American(Wash DC) and have been to the USA countless times, amongst 50 other countries.
We do have guns, however they are extremely rare. Retards are not able to get guns. Infact most people cannot and chances are you wont meet anyone who has even seen one(unless you come across an american tourist ;))The chances of hearing about a shootout or someone getting robbed at gunpoint is rare. Even our rifle ranges have guns secured against wires so they cannot be pointed elsewhere.
Not here to tell you guys what you should do, but banning guns or having a far tighter control on them would certainly help. Cannot see it happening due to the power the NRA have over there.
Ask my wife where she would rather live without fear of walking alone at night(im travelling right now so she has been alone in Sydney) and she would say Aus before you would be able to finish the question. I would assume we have a far lower crime rate as well though. Personally, some of the stuff ive seen there in broad daylight is crazy.