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From: rob@arcsun.UUCP
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Guns and Money (was Re: Canadian culture, etc.)
Message-ID: <174@arcsun.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 25-Feb-87 11:39:26 EST
Article-I.D.: arcsun.174
Posted: Wed Feb 25 11:39:26 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Feb-87 18:38:58 EST
References: <183@fornax.uucp> <840@mprvaxa.UUCP> <188@fornax.uucp> <2751@hcrvx2.UUCP>
Distribution: can
Organization: Alberta Research Council, Calgary, Ab.
Lines: 25
Summary: Guns can be traded

The topic of Canadian culture has been fairly well flogged recently,
and seems to have descended into train anecdotes, but Jim Robinson and
others have brought up the topic of handguns:

In article <2751@hcrvx2.UUCP>, jimr@hcrvx2.UUCP (Jim Robinson) writes:
> >... Compare the crime rates and the rates of ownership
> >of handguns, and again you see cultural values being manifest.
> 
> Handguns are effectively illegal in Canada so it seems rather unlikely
> that Canadians would magically develop an affinity for them due to free
> trade; especially since this country was not borne out of a revolution
> nor did it have a "wild west" frontier type past.

Some Canadians do have an affinity for handguns. The fact that they are
essentially illegal keeps them from foisting their affinity on the rest of
us. On the other hand, why should the U.S. weapons industry sit back quietly
when a supposed "free" trade agreement will not let them sell us a product
which is legal in the U.S.? In all likelihood, the gun lobbyists will use the
Americans natural love of firearms to get handgun laws on the bargaining
table. In a wild-west town like Calgary, the thought of easier access to
guns is scary.

Rob Aitken
"All I know is what my Daddy taught me -- the right to bear arms"
                        - anonymous Calgarian, TV news