The US sensationalizes them more. That's all. Adjusted for population, it's about the same.
That is fiction.
Irrespective of that, so many Americans seem to have have the mindset that they need guns to protect themselves. Despite sharing many cultural similarities British people do not think that way.
It is very sad that this is the prevailing mindset that you've been forced into.
And I do appreciate how easy it is to get sucked into this way of thinking. I'll move to the US within the next 12 months and my wife is brushing up on her handgun license, we'll buy a trained German Shepherd, and I guess I'd better learn how to shoot. I'd rather not think that way, but the fear is there and we all will do anything that we can to protect our families.