Yeah I knew you northy's would jump on me, but I am ex-northy who has lived in New Liskeard, Pickle Lake, Elk Lake, and Cobalt, as well as the West Coast of Nfld, and also too many places in remote Africa:-)

Unfortuntely for you guys, however, is that there are lot more bleeding heart, Disney-watching southerner's and they are seeing a dramatic increase in gun violence cities like Toronto.

Too many kids, of all colours, who are 'too cool for school' and think they are living in music videos or movies... Do you know last week some kids actually fired severlal shots in a crowded subway car and shot a girl in the leg after she tried to attack them with a knife over some stupid argument - yes guys shooting a girl in a crowded subway car. Yes these people are stupid, but they also have guns... Nothing worse than stupid people with guns.

Anyway, the rapid proliferation of handguns is extremely concerning and we need to crack down. Yes the firearm registry was disaster and huge pain in the arse with little benefit, but this a very different matter.

One could argue that is really very little need for anyone in this country to own a handgun, but I would like to see something like at least a minimum mandatory 10 year prison term for anyone caught in illegal possession of a handgun - illegal possession implies clear criminal intent - why else would kids be carrying them? To target practice? To collect them?.

There is no easy solution, but a total ban would do a lot to clear a large part of the inventory out of the country (the government could compensate collectors), and with severe penalties, maybe many would think twice about illegal ownership of these weapons.

Regards,

B.