i just spent 20 minutes typing up a big reply and lost it while this site was doing maintenance.
anyways heres the short version.
here in Oz we cannot use self defence as a legitimate excuse to own a firearm.
in my state it took me 10 months to gain my firearms licence. this only allows me the use of rimfire and centrefire (this state has just banned the .338 lapua).
handgun ownership requires more training and certification and permission is only given for club based target shooting.
please dont allow your country to follow us as it appears in the media.
here are some government stats if your interested:
http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide.html
im happy to answer any questions you may have.