Why doesn’t Canada have a gun culture like the US?
Canada has similar cultural and political roots to the US. We are on the same continent and had westward expansion at about the same time. Why don’t they have the same gun culture as the US? They don’t have the Second Amendment, of course, but why not something similar? I suggest two reasons: First, the pattern of Westward expansion was different. In Canada, police barracks were built on the frontier before civilian settlements were established. In the US, the police followed the settlers. When law precedes a population, there will be less violence. Secondly, a big motivation for the Second Amendment was fear of slave rebellion. Canada didn’t have slaves. The “peculiar institution” of slavery remains a curse on America. NRA types insist that gun ownership is essential to maintenance of freedom. Tell that to a Canadian. Canada is, certainly, a free country. What steers the gun culture in the USA isn’t love of freedom, but love of profit. The NRA doesn’t represent America, or even American gun owners. The NRA represents the interests of gun manufacturers. Guns are supposed to insure safety. That isn’t happening. The “solution” has become the problem. |
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