Gary Numan - which country has more thugs?

Every country has its share of bullies and idiots. Oddly, I feel that in spite of being known for daily shootings, the gun culture of the US has produced a subtle difference in its thuggery. Oddly, a recent reading of Gary Numan's Wikipedia page brought this difference to mind.

Following the apparent harassment of his wife while his family was walking on a high street in his local area, and his feelings following the 2011 London riots Numan filed papers to emigrate to the United States Santa Monica, California. Numan said "Every village and town in England has a bunch of thugs running around in it. The riots were the nail in the coffin".

In the September 2011 Q&A section of Numan's official web site, in answer to the question "Is it true you now hate England and want to leave?" he replied, "No, that's utter rubbish." He explained that he had "never been abused in my local high street," and has "made no firm decision about leaving the UK" but thugs are helping make such a decision, pointing out that the rioting "makes us look like a country of ignorant savages, beating up people already injured, pretending to help while stealing their things, hitting old men, killing them." He went on to explain that soundtracks may be a logical step, as he gets older and since "in the UK we have no meaningful film industry to speak of," a move to the US might be more reasonable. He concluded by saying his family are highest priority and, "If I see somewhere that seems safer, happier, and will give them a better life than the UK, I'll take them there if I possibly can." --Gary Numan - Wikipedia

My sense is that the US has less a problem than Australia (and the UK) with people getting into drunken senseless fights; people punching strangers in the face. Due to the availability of firearms, what would be a fist fight or punching a stranger in the UK or Australia would be a shooting or armed robbery in the US. The trade-off of eliminating mass shootings or a fair number of random shootings has been more hand-to-hand combat. Having lived with both, in a neighborhood that had two drug-related shootings a few blocks from one of my US addresses, and feeling like I might be the recipient of a punch in the face by a drunken Australian, there are some situations where I'd prefer the asshole to have a gun, and other situations I'd prefer if they be forced to punch me.