Thank you for your input.
"We read in the news about the trouble in the US regarding gun control."
True - we have 30,000 + gun control laws and regulations at the Federal, State and local levels by report. Please point us to one that has prevented a violent crime from being committed by someone crazy enough to assault or murder someone? Especially when our Federal government has made prosecution of possession of any firearm by a convicted felon (mandatory 10 year prison sentence) an extremely low priority.
"...we have been fortunate enough to keep guns out of the hands of unstable people by our laws here alone which has helped us not have hardly many major incidents with firearms at all."
Can you tell us when Canada has had a higher firearms violence rate than the US? Please include the time before mandatory handgun registration began up north in 1934, when neither the US or Canada had any sweeping gun control laws on the books. I suspect that due to various cultural and social factors, Canadians have simply been less prone to using guns for violence.
However, with the understanding that statistics are not completely comparable between the two countries, I see the reported US violent crime rate at 387 per 100,000 in 2013 (at a 20 year low, despite tens of millions of new guns sold in the interim) and Canada at 1190 per 100,000 in 2012, roughly three times higher.
Do you think US gun owners using firearms for defensive purposes between 1-3 million times per year (rarely with a shot fired, and even less rarely resulting in injury or death) has contributed to the lower crime rates here? Do you think it is possible that violent crime in Canada might decrease if more private citizens had an effective means of defending themselves?
"Our handguns are classed as restricted weapons and you must pass certain tests in order to obtain a licence to buy one here. They also call your spouse and a few friends to check on your sanity, political views and so forth as well. And a security check as well. This all takes around 3 months after you apply and then the club you join watches you like a hawk for the 1st 3 months or so as well to see if you're a good guy or a squirrel".
Several areas of the US have tried, or are still following, similar regulations - Washington, DC, New York City and Chicago are three that come to mind, neither of which has achieved the gun (or violence)-free paradise envisioned by the government enforcing these laws.
Hope this is helpful.
