It's simple!

 At least 157 people were killed and 270 were injured last year in unintentional shootings by children, according to an advocacy group for firearm safety.

The children who pulled the trigger were most often teenagers ages 14 to 17 or children ages 5 and under, according to data which is compiled from media reports. 

“The victim is often a sibling, a cousin or a friend,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, senior director of research 

“It leaves multiple families facing grief and regret.”

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There's only one solution folks... we have got to get rid of all those kids!!!!! (Noisy and nasty little bastards! 😉)

Why are Canadians not enamored with guns like people in the US?

Allan:

I grew up in Canada. I’m basically Canadian. We owned a riffle because we had a hunting permit and we lived on the semi-country side. However, we never used it.

A good percentage of Canadians own guns but it’s not overwhelming.

Most rural Canadian households and country people own at least one riffle.

Now it’s important to mention the difference between Canadian gun culture versus U.S. gun culture. Weapons, violence and guns are not glamorized in Canada. Weapons are not viewed as this “badass” thing. They’re viewed as stupid and low consciousness. Weapons and guns are usually not a topic of discussion and if you talk about guns and weapons outside the context of Military or hunting or any gun-related context, most Canadians will begin to feel uncomfortable around you.

With that being said, here are the 5 major reasons why Canadians are not enamored with guns and weapons :

• Canadians feel safe in general. Canada is on the top 20 list of the safest country in the world alongside the Netherlands. Most weapons are prohibited here (even brass knuckles and pepper spray). You see, when you live somewhere where you know nobody has a gun or weapon on them, the fear of the other tends to emancipate. The concept of danger or feeling in danger becomes less of a thing. People don’t think about it. People are less stressed out. Love, respect and peace tend to rise in your heart. Yes there are crimes in Canada and no it is not a perfect country, but, we rarely fear for our life; even when being pulled over by the cops.

• Canadians have a Human Rights Chart. To summarize, this chart states that every human has right to feel safe and be who they want to be without being discriminated against.

• Canadians don’t view guns as a political statement. If we need to make a statement, we protest with carton signs and ONLY in extreme protest cases, some people might throw Molotov cocktails (we’re influenced by Europeans). While throwing Molotov cocktails is not better than shooting guns, it’s usually not with the intention to kill. It’s more to make a political statement. Canadians will never use guns or weapons in a protest. Not that I know of and I’ve been to some of these protests.

• Canadians don’t view weapons or guns as self-defense. We don’t believe in shooting people or using weapons to do anything really. If a Canadian owns a gun, they keep it safe in the garage or some place you can’t see and they rarely talk about it. Usually, if it has to come down to violence, most Canadians will choose to fist fight if they have to defend themselves in extreme situations.

• Canadians use weapons primarily for hunting wild animals during hunting season. I personally don’t partake in that and I don’t condone it but, it is what it is.

Marie-Eva Volmar

GUNS

 President Joe Biden had to sign an executive order to control some types of guns since nobody in congress seems to have the urge to do something about it.

Guns are a national pastime in the States as this graph shows!

 Despite a hesitancy of Congress to act it seems a majority of the U.S. population wants some form of gun control:

What are some things we can do in the US but not in Canada?

As a follow-up to yesterdays article about U.S. - Canada relations, here are some more thoughts from John smith:

What are some things we can do in the US but not in Canada?

• Depending on the state, one thing you may be able to do in the U.S. that you can’t do in Canada is walk around with a gun. (See this photo below?) 
• It’s of a man who walked into the Atlanta airport — the busiest in the U.S. — in 2015 with a loaded AR-15. He broke no laws. In Canada, he would have been arrested and charged, and probably would have had his guns and gun licence stripped from him. There are lots more things you can do in America that you cannot do in Canada with respect to guns, but I’ll leave it at that.

• Publish and distribute hate speech. Hate speech targeting specific groups is illegal in Canada and punishable with a prison sentence. In the U.S., hate speech is still “free speech”. In Canada we have free speech, too, but as the saying goes, “the right for you to freely swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose.”
• Advertise prescription drugs on TV that make claims. Yes, there are pharmaceutical ads in Canada, but they are not allowed to even tell you what the medication is used for. This has resulted in rather funny and creative Viagra and Cialis ads
• Have cameras in courtrooms. This is strictly against the law in Canada.
• Openly talk about your religion in social settings. I have seen this in the U.S., but it’s not something people do in Canada — believe me, people will think you’re a bit weird and/or will be immediately put off by this. It’s considered to be extremely bad form.

Stop or I'll shoot!

 Allan:

I saw a friend online on FaceBook about 11:30 PM. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Knowing that he is an early sleeper I asked him why he was online. 

He said he was anxious and couldn’t sleep. 

When I asked him why he said “I think I saw a man carrying a gun in my neighborhood. Maybe he wasn’t. I am not sure but it got me very anxious.”

So the dude called the police and they sent a helicopter that roamed over his house for a while but he said he was still worried and couldn’t sleep. 

I was like whoa! Everyone here carries guns man! I am not sure what will happen if I call the Los Angeles police and tell them “I am not sure but I think someone might be carrying a gun in my neighborhood”. LOL - Samy Boulos