terry wrote in
ups.com:

On Sep 5, 1:06 pm, Chris Friesen wrote:
RickH wrote:
I heard gun ownership is high there too, which would
certainly explain why it is a very low-crime country.

Correlation doesn't imply causation.

Maybe the fact that every male is militarily trained leads to both
reduced crime and increased gun ownership. Maybe reduced crime is due
to higher employment, population demographics, cultural bias, or
something else entirely.

Chris

Correct Chris: This is along way from light bulbs. CFL or otherwise.

The ownership, use of guns and gun violence is very much factor of the
culture and type of society; a childish remark, such as the one about
'Inspectors and bullets' would be unacceptable in most civilized
societies!

before 1968,when the US passed it's 1968 Gun Control Act,guns were MUCH
more easily available,could be mailordered,bought across state lines,no ID
needed,were sold at hardware stores,school kids brought them to school for
use at school gun clubs or on,the way home,virtually NO restrictions,yet
gun violence was low.
People didn't lock their doors.People were more moral and law-abiding.
enacting more and more gun control has not made things any safer.

Whereas in Iraq for example, it has been said every house
has an AK47 or the equivalent and if some hot head gets into an
argument with a neighbour .................... ! or doesn't like a
particular 'brand ' of religion!

Comparing a tribal society to Western,democratic society is not honest.
the two are NOT equivalent.


Until age 22 I lived in a society where gun ownership was rarity. My
father who was in the over-age (Home Guard) defence force during WWII
did not retain any weapons and voluntarily surrendered his Colt 45
after the war to the local police, for disposal, after using it with
blanks, as a starter's pistol for school events for a couple of years.
There was never any suggestion of keeping it. Even then the blanks
were kept separately from the locked up revolver. Gun violence in that
country was and still is a rarity.

Not because of a lack of guns,but because of cultural or other reasons.

As a reservist in the mid-late 1950s I was trained in the use of at
least two military weapons (I was quite a good shot actually) and
would have served if called up. Gun safety was a paramount
requirement; no point shooting your own people!

Since then have also been fortunate to have lived in a society where
there is no need to own a gun at all;

In YOUR opinion.Others have other situations.

I could get a rifle or a shotgun
to go hunting; but have no need.

No need for self-defense against criminals(or an enraged ex-
husband or a stalker)? Bull.
Only because you are isolated and rural.
But you would force others with a real need to go without.

And therefore no responsibility to
control it or its ammunition. Friends who occasionally may own a gun
(in this somewhat rural part of Canada) usually have an old ex-
military rifle that their deceased father used to own for occasional
moose or other hunting. And these are registered and kept securely
locked up. For example I have never seen a Lee Enfield that my good
neighbor is said to own and don't expect to!

the mere sight of a gun is no need for fear.


We notice that many of our southern neighbours are questioning what
they feel are increasing restrictions on personal freedoms through
your systems of government; both federal, state and city. Also what
would appear to be the over-influence of industry lobbyists on elected
reps. and government employees.

the influence they have is that of CITIZENS who vote.

Rather than the wishes of 'ordinary folk'.

You hardly know what "ODCs" are thinking.

That's your business except as it occasionally affects us; your
biggest trading partner. Also the US passion for owning guns stemming
from having an armed militia back some couple of hundred years ago?

Yes,they came in handy in overthrowing the incumbent oppressive
government;the British.
Without them,the job would have been near impossible.
Note the first thing the Brits tried was to DISARM the colonists.
(of course,they have benefitted greatly from the formation of the USofA.)

Rather like Switzerland's reservist army? Again that is your business
and none of ours to comment.

you are free to comment;that's part of a free society.


But gee! You do have a lot of guns that occasionally spill over the
border into Canada.

Gee,what a surprise....that criminals will smuggle in guns to areas with
tighter controls on them.

But it quite evident that fewer guns around leads to less gun
violence;

Usually with an increase in other crime,as people cannot defend themselves
and their property.Criminals know they are safe,don't have to fear their
prey.

criminals can always get and use guns, often illegally
imported from the USA. In Canada there are far fewer guns around in
private hands for them to steal/get their hands on. Also the illegal
(unregistered) possession of a gun, especially hand guns, is a crime
in itself.

LMAO.Since when do criminals care about something being a crime?

The FACT that Canadians are smuggling guns into Canada shows that there is
a criminal demand and use for them *in Canada*(presumably by CANADIANS).
BTW,a criminal does not have to FIRE a gun to use it in a crime.It greatly
aids them in dominating a victim,though.

Nor does a ODC(ordinary decent citizen) have to fire a gun to use it in
self-defense;often the crook chooses to flee when their victim produces a
gun,thus no shot need be fired,and in fact it is criminal to shoot a
fleeing crook that is no threat to you anymore.

So for a criminal to use a gun at all in the commission of
crime becomes much clearer than "My neighbour was being an a**ole so I
waved my hand gun at him and unfortunately it went off!"; illegal gun
use is considered serious and carries a higher penalty.

as it does here in the US.
Too bad judges often choose to NOT apply those stiffer penalties.
(appointed judges,not subject to elections)


We do have trouble spots in a couple of major cities mainly due to
gangs. But gun crime and related death rates overall are extremely
low.


Because the crooks can prey on people with other items like knives and
clubs.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net