If Alaska was a Canadian province ... (high crime, buy, school)

[Drowningintherain2]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Good Lord, I'm glad it's not. Canada's lack of freedom is intolerable to me (thinking high taxes and gun laws for example).

our lack of freedom? Lol, that's a good one. Which Country is the one with the patriot act? We don't all need to carry guns our country's murder rate is a fraction of yours.

[Drowningintherain2]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

A Canuc I know told me that he pays over 42% of his taxes just for medical.

Nonsense

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Drowningintherain2

Nonsense

OK then, how much of your taxes go into the health care system?

[Drowningintherain2]

I'm a student, I don't pay taxes.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Drowningintherain2

our lack of freedom? Lol, that's a good one. Which Country is the one with the patriot act? We don't all need to carry guns our country's murder rate is a fraction of yours.

More crime in the US: Could that be because there are a lot more people in the US than in Canada? Why shouldn't you be able to carry a handgun in Canada if you are not a criminal? The criminal is still going to carry a gun, if he wants to, in Canada or anywhere else in the world.

But the point is that Alaskans don't want to be a Canadian province. That's all.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Drowningintherain2

I'm a student, I don't pay taxes.

Ah, I see. I work with students in Alaska, and they don't pay taxes. That's understandable.

[Drowningintherain2]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

More crime in the US: Could that be because there are a lot more people in the US than in Canada?
It could be that...but it isn't. The U.S has much more violent crime per capita.
Why shouldn't you be able to carry a handgun in Canada if you are not a criminal? The criminal is still going to carry a gun, if he wants to, in Canada or anywhere else in the world.
Thousands of people around me would almost certainly not make me feel any safer..in fact I would feel scared that some idiot could lose his temper at any minute. The vast majority of crime that we do have here is criminals attacking/killing eachother. I can't see how law abiding citizens carrying hand guns would help.

But the point is that Alaskans don't want to be a Canadian province. That's all.

Fair enough...I've heard a few Alaskans mention that they wish Alaska wasn't part of the U.S. I could see Alaska as an independant Country..[/quote]

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Drowningintherain2

our lack of freedom? Lol, that's a good one. Which Country is the one with the patriot act? We don't all need to carry guns our country's murder rate is a fraction of yours.

Canada's equivalent to our Bill of Rights, your Charter of Rights and Freedoms, even states the government may choose to ignore it, to put it simply. Ours doesn't and bit by bit our courts have hacked away at the worst infringements on rights. As more cases come forward more progress is made against the bad parts of the Patriot Act. Our rights listed in our Bill of Rights are absolute rights unlike yours. The government may not simply ignore them by passing a law saying they will. There is a significant difference there from yours. And this isn't even getting into the elitist sort of nature of your government, with land owning requirements and such for certain offices.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canada in fact has a significant crime problem. Maybe our murder rate is higher, but you have enough other crimes (rape, etc.) to make up for that. Do a little research.

Our murder rate varies by state and locale within states. The U.S. has much more people than Canada and in fact gun laws vary widely. Strangely enough some of the worst areas as far as crime go in the U.S. are the areas with the strictest gun laws. Washington D.C., NJ, MD, etc., have tight gun laws and restrict carrying of weapons and have high crime rates. Vermont and Alaska have the loosest gun laws, any adult may carry a gun openly or concealed without any permit or license. The crime rates in VT (one of the safest states in the U.S.) and AK are no where near the level of areas such as D.C. that have strict gun laws.

Furthermore, pretty much any weapon is legal in AK and VT. Provided federal laws are complied with concerning registration on class 3 weapons (more tightly regulated than "normal" guns such as standard barrel length semi-autos, bolt actions, revolvers, etc., those "normal" guns do not require federal registration and are readily available in free states), I could own a grenade, launcher, almost any artillery I want, etc. And that fact hasn't caused any significant issues concerning crime. Gun control only affects the law abiding. Case in point, the only crime ever committed with a legally owned class 3 weapon (in this case a machine gun) since 1934 was by a police officer years ago. 74 years and only one crime committed with a legally owned example of those supposedly "dangerous" weapons like machine guns, grenades, etc.

No criminal intent on killing someone is going to not do so because the law says he/she can't own or carry a gun. Schools in most of the U.S. are off limits to carrying weapons (not all but most) yet that did not stop the school shootings in those gun free zones. I liken carrying a gun to having a fire extinguisher in my house: I hope to never need it but if I ever do I don't want to be without it. I know people whose lives were saved by them having a gun (they're not in VT or AK but other states BTW) to use on their violent attackers. Sometimes only the sight of a gun is enough to scare off people intent on harm, other times you do need to actually use it. Your fears of people carrying guns are not based in reality. People going off suddenly who are legally carrying a gun is incredibly rare.

And that's not even taking into account remote areas where wildlife can be dangerous. I never venture into or camp in the wild without a gun. It's also useful as a signaling tool should I be injured or whatever, and for getting food (meat) should I need to. Guns are tools, they're only used for bad purposes by bad people.

And we can look also at the high taxes in Canada: the power to tax is the power to destroy, and to enslave. Taxes enslave you, making you work for the government rather than for yourself part of the year. And since I stumbled upon it today and rather enjoyed it despite it not being complete, here is a recording of President Calvin Coolidge speaking about precisely that:
YouTube - President Calvin Coolidge

I wish he was still president...

There are of course other things I could say but I think that's enough reasons given for why I would never want to live under the Canadian government. Canada is a beautiful country, outside of the cities (understand I despise all cities wherever they may be) but I couldn't tolerate your government. As it is I can barely tolerate the U.S. federal government at times.

[RayinAK]

There is an US "province" called "Vermont" where crime is perhaps the lowest in the nation. The funny thing about this "province" is that it exercises perhaps some of the most liberal gun laws in the nation. Well, there are a lot of liberals in Vermont as arctichomesteader
can attest to , but they have no problems with lax gun laws.

Alaska has passed real nice gun laws that I enjoy. For example, concealed carry is permitted, even without a concealed-carry permit. The reason why I like this sort of freedom is because it's not assumed by anybody that I am guilty of carrying a weapon or gun, regardless if I carry one or not. In fact, there are a few cases where people carry concealed guns in the glove compartment and such. But in reality most folks are not armed.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by warptman

Take off, aye.

That's what a Canadian would say.....