No, but don't kid yourself, the rate of firearms ownership in Canada is just as great as the USA (overall). And that is a fact ! However, the big difference up here is that firearms are kept and used for a multitude of legitimate purposes; however, self defence is NOT one of them!! Also speaking as a Canadian, I too am thankful that (so far) our culture doesn't instill the fear level that drives people in the US to keep firearms for self defence. In addition, the rate of ownership of "restricted firearms" such as handguns is no where near as great as in the US....we have about 1 million handguns in our country (legal ones that is...no one knows how many illegal ones come in...), and the remainder are sporting long guns such as rifles and shotguns. We do have good laws that mandate safe ownership and storage left over from the next to last revision of the Criminal Code. But I certainly don't rest easier in any fashion whether my neighbour owns a gun or not ! That has little to do with anything !
However, since the latest shooting massacre in Montreal and the resulting latest changes, we now are blessed with some of the most atrocious new gun laws that exist anywhere; they boggle the mind with their complexity and the resultant inability to follow them legally even if you want to (speaking from much personal experience..). And having gone up to a billion dollars in program costs (and still climbing), one has to ask whether this is the best expenditure of that much money (and that goes whether you are a gun hater or a gun lover frankly...)
If you are a criminologist, you know the issue is much more complicated than mere availability; a lot of it is mired in social and cultural issues stemming back to the history of the development of each country.
R.H.Campbell Home Security Metal Products Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Hey, if you want to have a gun and consider it "protection", that's your choice. I'd much rather live in a neighbourhood where I know that none of my neighbours have guns, and where I find it a pleasant surprise if one of my neighbours unexpectedly comes over to say hello once in a while. Of course, I'm Canadian, and I live in a country that thankfully doesn't have the culture of fear of our southern neighbours.
Regards,
George Wenzel
George Wenzel, B.A. (Criminology) E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@recursor.invalid E-mail address is munged. Instead of dot invalid, use dot net