There was an armistice years ago mainly because anyone could get a gun licence for a few quid down the post office before that kids could legally carry a shotgun at 16. They wanted tighter gun control so brought in a far more strict licencing system, with weird stipulations about barrel length and other things.
I don't know where the lie about the UK outright banning guns came from but even the majority of British people believe it so never look into guns for personal defence.
I think you've been away for a while. The police must vet every application for a firearm in the UK. There has to be a legitimate purpose to own a gun and checks are carried out. Farmers and rural folk can get shotgun licences for livestock control. But Joe public require good standing and reason to own what is legal to buy. There are always loopholes but it's far more controlled than you suggest.
Hell, a crossbow is classified as a firearm in the UK. Basically, you might be able to acquire a firearm but you're screwed if you don't have a license for it.
Edit. This is just a small portion of the law:
3.3 Those weapons and ammunition which are prohibited consist of:
i) any firearm which is so designed or adapted that two or more missiles can be successively discharged without repeated pressure on the trigger (section 5(1)(a));
Section 5(1)(a) includes weapons such as machine guns, sub-machine guns, chain guns and the so-called ‘burst-fire’ weapons in which several missiles (typically 3-5) are discharged in succession on a single application of the trigger. Case law also suggests that the courts should consider the actual operation of the firearm rather than the intent of the designers.
ii) any self-loading or pump-action rifled gun other than one which is chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges (section 5(1)(ab));
Section 5(1)(ab) includes carbines, which are included in the definition of a rifle in section 57(4) of the 1968 Act. Originally, a carbine was a short musket or rifle intended for use by mounted troops, but the term has come to mean any rifle with a short barrel.
Also caught in this category are the so-called ‘hybrid’ firearms such as the Colt Armalite AR-15 ‘pistol’. These weapons are self-loading versions of long arms made to operate in self-loading mode only and sold without a shoulder stock. The term ‘automatic’ is also sometimes incorrectly applied to self-loading pistols.
iii) any firearm which either has a barrel less than 30 centimetres in length or is less than 60 centimetres in length overall, other than an air weapon, a muzzle-loading gun or a firearm designed as signalling apparatus (section 5(1)(aba));
Section 5(1)(aba) affects small firearms that are easily concealed. Muzzle-loading firearms (including cap and ball revolvers) and flare pistols are excluded. It should be remembered that the 1997 Act did not ban pistols as such and was drafted in terms of small firearms. NB: section 5(1)(aba) includes ‘specially dangerous’ air pistols and ‘specially dangerous’ short air rifles.
..and it goes on.
