I agree with your assessment, including for my home country of Canada. There should be gun freedom and fewer restrictions on self-defense. If you remember, I'm the fellow who cited a wall-of-text that cited Sir William Blackstone :)

That said, I have to note that the United States has a cultural advantage when it comes to gun safety - two related ones, in fact, and they're both important ones:

• The typical law-enforcement officer in the U.S., particularly the country sheriff, is pro-gun-freedom. I don't think that's the case in my home country of Canada. I haven't seen any hard stats, but my impression is that Canadian cops tend to favour gun control. As for your own country, you'd know better than I on where the cops stand on this issue.
• Large organizations like the National Rifle Association are suffused with people who are knowledgeable about gun safety & are glad to share their knowledge. They're the folks who''l be glad to teach you when to shoot, when not to shoot, and which gun practises make you a stupid idiot.

The two obviously relate, as at least one of the members of a local NRA chapter is likely to be a LEO. So it's easy to get a professional opinion as to good/bad practices and the legalities.

Obviously, these practices comprise "self-regulation" in the old-fashioned Neighbourhood-Watch sense. They're the main reason why states with the looses gun laws tend to have low crime rates. I've read thread after thread after thread with pro-NRA folks discussing not only what gun you should buy but also what's a bad shoot - and what are good practices. Not so much in my home country of Canada, in large part because of the gun control.

If the gun laws are loosened - moreso repealed - a similar culture would have to arise, with a similar self-responsibility ethic.