The key differencess between Canada & the United States in gun ownership. Among these:
Virtually every gun used in an American mass shooting is legally available for purchase in Canada. Despite this, Canada doesn?t come close to suffering the same rate of mass shootings as the United States.
Whenever Americans discuss gun control, it?s only natural that they look to the policies of their much less bullet-riddled northern neighbour. But even Canadian law can only do so much.
Below, an analysis of just what Canadian firearms policies could have done to stop some of America?s worst mass shootings.
First, some basics
Nobody legally buys a gun in Canada without first taking the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. Then, they have to submit an application for a Possession and Acquistion Licence (PAL), where they?re screened by the RCMP for risk factors such as criminal history and mental health.
Guns and many types of semi-automatic rifles that can only be legally owned for the purposes of target shooting. With very few exceptions, private firearms are not sold as ?weapons? in Canada. The only legal reason for owning a firearm in Canada is as a tool to kill animals or as a piece of sporting equipment to shoot paper targets. This is in sharp contrast to the United States, where gun ownership is closely correlated with self-defence.
The semi-automatic pistol is prohibited in Canada, which means it cannot be legally owned except under special conditions...firearms...originally purchased anonymously from unlicensed sellers at...gun shows. These types of sales are not permitted in Canada.
The Canadian screening process is not airtight, of course. Filing a PAL is much like submitting a tax return: A criminal can simply lie and cross their fingers that nobody notices. Organized crime already knows this, which is why Canada has a documented problem with ?straw man? purchases: A criminal successfully obtains a restricted PAL and proceeds to buy up scores of handguns for distribution to criminal networks.
One hard-to-quantify effect of Canadian firearms screening is how many unstable individuals simply never bother to apply. The application form asks applicants to specify their conjugal status, for instance, and implies that police will be calling up exes. ?Anyone with an angry ex isn?t going to get a (possession licence) for example,?one firearms instructor told the National Post. Canada has anonymous hotlines by which friends or neighbours can call a Canadian?s firearms licence into question. Canadian Firearms Safety Course instructors are also told by RCMP to report any students in their classes who seem suspicious. A bit Orwellian, perhaps, but it?s one of several ways in which Canada is able collar the kinds of would-be mass murderers with clean criminal records that U.S. law finds so hard to stop.
Long, long article going over each of the mass killings perpetrated by the shooters involved, their circumstances, etc., and how each of these situations differs or compares as per the Canadian checks & balances of probability.
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/would-canadian-gun-laws-have-stopped-americas-worst-mass-shooters
