The Editor,
The recent murder of 49 human beings in Orlando is a particularly monstrous and uncivilized act.听
The killer was an unfortunate delusional person who was known by law officials, but managed to buy guns and ammunition to carry out this massacre.
The easy access to guns in the U.S. makes one believe that it may be far safer to have bears arm themselves, rather than giving American citizens the constitutional right to bear arms. That may appear to be somewhat disconnected.听
On average, there are 112.6 guns for every 100 Americans.听
Is it the easy availability of guns in the U.S. that seems to be the reason that in 2015, 12,000 Americans were killed by guns, through homicide, suicide and accidental deaths? The U.S. also recorded another 25,000 injuries that were gun-related.
In Canada, on average, there are 30.8 guns for every 100 Canadians.
The Supreme Court of Canada has stated that 鈥淐anadians, unlike Americans, do not have the constitutional right to bear arms.鈥� The court also stated, 鈥淢ost Canadians prefer to have the peace of mind and sense of security arrive from the knowledge that the possession of automatic weapons is prohibited.鈥�
I鈥檓 quite certain that most Canadians will be saddened and disturbed to learn that in the last five years, our government鈥檚 political leaders have increased and allowed the sale and export of the weapons of war. Some of these weapons may have been sold to other countries like Saudi Arabia, which is a country that has an abominable human rights record.
It is absolute nonsense and ignorance to argue that if we don鈥檛 sell these weapons to those who want to buy them, someone else will make that profit. Is Canada so poverty-stricken that we have to sell weapons designed to kill human beings, who we do not even know, just to keep our country viable?
In Canada, we expect that our police departments to have the legal power to keep guns out of the hands of people, who may or may not be totally responsible with how they handle and use guns. With fewer guns around, we all will feel more secure.
Canadians want to be recognized as a civilized people. We need to be seen to promote peacemaking and peacekeeping.
听
Leo Kurtenbach
Saskatoon
