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From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Handguns: we're succumbing to mob ru - (nf)
Message-ID: <405@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 23-Sep-83 15:12:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: dciem.405
Posted: Fri Sep 23 15:12:40 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Sep-83 03:45:26 EDT
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Organization: D.C.I.E.M, Toronto, Canada
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I think a comparison of Canadian and US gold-rush towns is appropriate
here. The US West, and particularly places where there was a mining boom,
tended to be a good place in which to get murdered. People protected what
they had and some were a bit trigger-happy. On the other hand, Dawson City
(Yukon Gold rush) had either 1 or 2 murders in its entire history. What
was the difference? Mainly that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police set
up a machine-gun post at the border (on the crest of a high pass) and
forcibly disarmed everyone crossing into Canada. There were essentially
no guns in Dawson except those owned by the 6 (count them, 6) policemen.
Prospectors were not expecting to be ambushed, and neither did they
expect to be killing their neighbours who happened to nose around at
inopportune moments.

(Reference Pierre Berton's book on the Klondike)

Martin Taylor

PS. The whole "opening" of the Canadian West was done under this
relatively gun-free atmosphere, although there were guns in places
like Fort Whisky, which was soon cleaned up, and during the Riel
rebellions, which were organized and should be considered more as
wars than as criminal uses of guns.
Canada has no Wild West movies with shoot-em-up scenes, as a result.