For the record, I'll say that there need to be better laws in the US about who can buy guns and what kind. Absolutely no one but no one needs an assault rifle or AK-47 or similar.
I grew up in the US (if you know the US, you'll know where). People have guns. My dad had guns. He inherited his grandfather's service pistol, he had a revolver, he had a muzzle-loading rifle and a pump-action shotgun. All deadly but all single shots.
He actually used them to defend our home more than once b/c we lived on the edge of a rough neighborhood. More than once, he held burglars/robbers at gunpoint whilst my mother called the police. I knew where the guns were; I knew not to touch them; I knew what they could do.
I was given a bb gun (air rifle) for Christmas when I was 10 and did target practice with my grandmother. She was a crack shot and an amazing lady.
As another pp mentioned, like South Africans, we deal with it. Many of you have commented on Wednesdaysotherchild's comment but s/he has the right of it: if adults cared they would vote to change things. When I lived in New Orleans in the early 90s, there was, on average, a murder every day. The Times Picayune kept count. No one called for gun control: that was using both hands.
However, in US politics, many issues are polarised and often people have a top priority for their vote. This priority often overrides any other platform issue: e.g. military families are often committed republicans because republican govt's vote for defense spending (i.e. military salaries and funding). Thus many military families, perhaps being well versed in guns, will vote republican even though they support stronger gun laws and know that is a tacit vote for not increasing gun control legislation. Just as in the UK, NHS workers will vote non-Tory because they know tories will cut NHS funding if they can.
Also, whilst gun use and violence is shocking to UK readers, most people living in the US have some experience of guns but that rarely affects daily life. When I visit, I do not worry about guns. Likewise, if my children were in school there, I would not really be too anxious.
It is always sad when children are caught in the crossfire: think of the children of Israel and Palestine: victims of centuries of adult decisions.