Baraka_Guru

My own position is that these things are nearly impossible to measure with any value. You would think that fewer guns would mean fewer chances of guns being used, but that doesn't work if you apply the logic linearly.

This means that the other factors need to be taken into account. I think that socio-economic factors are more important than gun issues when it comes to crime.

If everyone were mentally/spiritually like the Dalai Lama but were armed like Lara Croft, what would crime be like?

I don't see the need for Canada to change its gun policy. I'm not sure it would have a great impact on crime in either direction. Our murder rate isn't that high. If we were to adopt the U.S. position on guns, would our murder rate plummet? I doubt it. Would it skyrocket? Not likely.

I think that if I were to live in many areas of the U.S., I would be more open to gun ownership and even CCW, but that's because I perceive the many parts of the U.S. to be far more dangerous than just about anywhere in Canada. I can't say the same about the U.K. I don't know enough about the situation there.

Regardless, it's not just about the guns.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot