[Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of SAMPAN interviews with people living in countries with strict gun laws]
Just a week after the Uvalde shooting in the United States, Canada is one country that has strengthened their gun laws. If you compare the two, just north of the border, the public mindset and policies on firearms in Canada are vastly different from that of the United States.
So what separates the two in terms of gun policy?
Interestingly enough, both of these countries have big hunting cultures. However, the main difference is that firearms are federally regulated in Canada, while in the United States firearm policy really depends from state to state. Following the recent mass shootings in America, the Canadian government has introduced legislation that would implement a “national freeze” on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a bill that would also limit the capacity of magazines and even ban certain toys that resemble guns. To clarify, the Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Macro Mendicino, has emphasized that the legislation was not prompted by the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde in the United States, but rather it is a Canadian proposal to address the challenges that their citizens have faced.
What is the perception of a country with strict gun laws?
It is only that Canadians see the gun situation in the United States as an example to what happens when guns are not heavily regulated. The reality is that gun violence in Canada has been increasing recently. Prime Minister Trudeau has stated to reporters, that “we need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and rapidly, it gets worse and worse and more difficult to counter.”
According to REUTERS, although Canada has stricter gun policies than the United States and its gun homicide rate is less than about 20% of the rate in the U.S., it is still higher than that of other developed countries, such as Australia, and it is continuing to rise. However, the contrasting point between Canada and the United States is the need to act and the actions that have been taken directly.
Following the 2020 mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia, one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings, the Canadian government implemented an immediate ban on the sale and use of 1500 models of assault weapons, such as the AR-15 rifle. What can be seen is that in countries like Canada, after a deadly mass shooting, action is taken immediately. Whereas, in the United States laws continue to be ambiguous and legislation is hardly passed due to a lack of consensus. Although Canada has already implemented strict policies regarding guns, the government and the public recognize the importance that there is still more that needs to be done.
To understand the everyday citizen’s perception of guns and what the culture is like in Canada, we interviewed Cat Wu, who is a Canadian native.
From what I understand about the gun policy in Canada is that having guns is completely illegal. The only exception I know is when it comes to hunting, but even then there are a lot of restrictions. There is a big hunting culture in Canada. In the outskirts in northern Canada or northern Ontario, wildlife is very common. If you are on a hunting ground in late September or November (normally hunting season), you are permitted to use a firearm to go outside to hunt. However, to own one, there are lots of restrictions. There is lots of paperwork that you have to do and you can only purchase a certain kind of firearm. You also need to own a metal container with a lock for the gun and only registered owners can use it. If you want to hunt, you need a hunting permit that needs to be renewed often and there is also a certification that needs to be purchased.
I think gun policies have been effective in Canada. Rarely do people have guns. The only people who have guns are gangsters and people who go hunting. In Canada, I would say gun policies work about 90% of the time. The only issue is the gangsters that own handguns. Most of these handguns are smuggled from the U.S over the border. The guns that are smuggled into Canada usually come from border towns near the central United States. From what I know about gun violence in the United States, I’ve learned from the news that there are many shootings in schools. There are different policies in each state and there isn’t a federal policy. I knew a person who lived in the U.S before, who grew up in Texas. He said that everyone there has a gun, mostly for protection reasons. Personally I think that young children in the U.S need to be more educated on guns and the safety hazards of them. There needs to be more funding into the education of guns, especially earlier education as a lot of accidents happen.
As for the situation in Canada, everytime there is a shooting there is always a big reaction from the public and the demand for even more gun control. In a certain town that I know of, there are shootings that involve gangsters almost every month. I feel that there isn’t enough effort into solving the smuggling issue from the government. People are starting to see shootings as a normal occurrence. Especially with how the economy is recently and following COVID, people don’t really pay much attention to issues regarding guns because they have a lot of other things to worry about. The way I see it, the government doesn’t really have much of a solution and people right now are in their own bubbles.
I don’t think that people should own firearms. I’ve never used a firearm and I don’t want to because it’s more responsibility on your shoulders to keep it safe. Let’s say if I own a gun legally, if someone stole my gun then who is responsible for that? If you lose the gun, who is responsible for that? What can the government do? There really isn’t any control. In my opinion, if you are near rural areas with a lot of wildlife, then I understand why you would own a gun (for protection reasons), but if you live in urban cities then you don’t really need it. It’s not a freedom of choosing because it’s more of a public safety issue to not have a gun. In Canada, I think that because people know that it’s illegal to own a gun, overall they just accept it. There really isn’t much disagreement on the issue. Guns aren’t really the conversation in our daily lives. That’s how we grew up. We don’t really think about whether one day, what if the gun policies suddenly loosen. Yes, guns are a public safety issue because there are still illegal guns in the streets. However, policy wise I think the Canadian government has mostly done their part. The only exception would be the smuggling issue.
I’m not worried about guns in Canada. If I feel that certain areas aren’t safe, I just won’t go there. There is this Chinese saying that “guns don’t have eyes.” I feel that it is more dangerous if more people were to own guns. The population in Canada is extremely big and people will have a more violent way to solve issues. There are lots of arguments in the streets and people don’t really think properly when they’re angry. Therefore, giving people easier access to guns will not solve any issues.
