Me, I'd rather not get killed at all thank you very much 
Just to humour you though, using a pickaxe or a knife introduces a personal element that a lot of people wouldn't be willing to deal with, not to mention such attacks are also probably less likely to be fatal. It's easier to be detached and make a hasty decision with a gun while knives and such are messy. Not to mention axes and knives do have other intended uses. Guns don't. Which brings me back to my main point.
You've got something there Bint.
The farther the distance from the one aimed for, the less it looks like killing, and the more it looks like a computer game. Playing 'god' with real lives. that don't look real.
I don't know how effective a gun, pistol or revolver will be in a fight in a busy environment, or when threatened in a crowd. You can't do the distant thing in a crowd, and aiming for the right person is hard then.
On the other hand, when really going beserk, I don't think there is a personal element in stabbing someone with a knife either. It's just blind furious rage then. And a bystander can be hurt easily too then.
I'm not favouring guns. I do find gun statistics intriguing though. What does it say, when percentage of gun owning in Canada is not that much lower than in the US, but the percentage of gun casualties is a lot lower?
BTW. Heard today that the UK is the most violent nation in the world. Even beating South Africa. I was amazed.
