Friday, November 11, 2005

"Toronto gripped by US gun violence"

In how many ways does it suck to be a neighbor of the United States?



At least one, it appears, but it's worth mentioning SIX TIMES (per AFP):

TORONTO, Canada (AFP) - Residents of Canada's biggest city are living in fear of increasing gun violence and blame their neighbour, the United States, for exporting their gun culture and weapons north, officials told AFP.
.
.
.
"There is fear of retaliation if they speak to police in some sectors of the community," Pilkington said, blaming mostly gangs, some with international links, fighting over turf and drug sales and using guns imported from the United States, for the violence.
.
.
.
The magazine blamed the rise in part on illegal arms from the neighboring United States.
.
.
.
In the past five years, Canadian authorities seized 5,400 weapons, mostly handguns. According to Maclean's, this represented a mere fraction of the guns that enter Canada from the United States.
.
.
.
"It's totally unacceptable. We don't want that kind of violence in our city," Toronto Mayor David Miller told AFP, echoing local residents who expressed concerns that America's gun culture is creeping north across the Canada-US border.
.
.
.
Last month, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew pressed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take action to stop the flow of guns north into Canada.
I like that last part, where we protect their borders. Gives a whole new meaning to "we stand on guard for thee", eh?

Toronto gripped by US gun violence - Yahoo! News

No comments: