Actually the United States has more violent crime, and a much higher rate of deliberate homicide involving firearms than other first world nations.

Using the numbers available from The United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (1998 - 2000) (you can download the spreadsheet yourself to check the numbers, here's a comparison of the U. S. figures to a random selection of other first world nations:

Australia:
1998: 54 homicides; 0.28 per 100K(pop)
1999: 62 homicides; 0.33 per 100K
2000: 59 homicides; 0.31 per 100K

Canada:
1998: 151 homicides; 0.50 per 100K(pop)
1999: 165 homicides; 0.54 per 100K
2000: no information

United States:
1998: 9257 homicides; 3.37 per 100K(pop)
1999: 8259 homicides; 2.97 per 100K
2000: no information

England and Wales:
1998: 49 homicides; 0.09 per 100K(pop)
1999: 62 homicides; 0.12 per 100K
2000: no information

Germany:
1998: 402 homicides; 0.49 per 100K(pop)
1999: 414 homicides; 0.50 per 100K
2000: 384 homicides; 0.467 per 100K

Adjusted for population the U. S. *still* has more firearm related homicide -- and this doesn't cover the the unintentional injuries and homicides. While it's true that a certain amount of homicide always happens, and that other weapons will be used if firearms aren't available, the number of people in the general population who have sidearms makes the commission of such crime easier. School children, for example, aren't going to have the means to acquire weapons if they can't steal them from family members or friends.

While I believe that gun control *isn't* the answer (it's expensive and ineffective), I don't pretend to have a better solution.