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Gun issue complex

many variables that go far beyond “ban guns, crime goes away”, “more guns = unsafe”
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Gun issue complex

Re: “U.S. gun culture infecting Canada”, (online letters, May 20)

This is a complex, nuanced issue with many variables that go far beyond “ban guns, crime goes away”, “more guns = unsafe”, or “USA/NRA brainwashes people into wanting guns” simplistic reasoning.

Was the letter-writer “brainwashed” by the anti-gun lobby? Switzerland is one of the safest places on earth, and they allow the ownership of fully automatic weapons. The safest places in the U.S. are, ironically for the letter-writer, areas with fairly permissive gun laws; for instance, Maine, which has a very low overall crime rate and is a “shall-issue” jurisdiction for concealed carry permits for self-defense.

It should go without saying that criminals don’t want to be shot, but this point was driven home when someone asked the guy who sheltered the Nova Scotia shooter’s girlfriend why the shooter did not come to his house. The reply was basically, “He knew I have guns.”

April J. Gibson

Duncan