Unfortunately a rolled up newspaper can be a deadly weapon when somebody has intent and it is in the wrong hands.
I don't have a problem with the licencing of guns, but from the UKs experience, totally banning them doesn't work it just makes things worse, and deprives responsible gun owners from the pleasure they get from using them responsibly. Anybody in the UK that wants to take up the sport of pistol shooting has to go abroad or be in the police or armed forces. Even if they are a civilian in the UK Olympic team they cannot have a pistol in the UK.
How the balance is struck is up to each country to decide. In Switzerland all males have to go into the army for 12 months, learn to shoot and then keep a rifle and ammunition at home to protect the country if it is invaded. Yet, they do not have a history of major gun crime. Is this due to the military education and training?