[b112]

In the US, I know you guys have to be shooting at anything and everything, just because you have a gun.

In Canada, people on farms often buy guns just as a tool, not for cultural reasons, or pleasure, such as long guns, to shoot.... yes, rabid animals, or things preying on their livestock.

It is a major use case, if you own a gun for rabid animals, and really don't get it out otherwise.

I also have a chainsaw, and never get it out to cut trees, unless it has already fallen, or a danger.

EG, I have a chainsaw, but never use it to cut down trees for fuel.

Why do you object? Some areas have a strong local rabis population...

[indymike]

For most Americans... guns are used as a tool just like in rural Canada.

[b112]

Maybe, but every time I bring it up, I find myself having to distinguish Canadian usage, from US gun usage. Many Americans seem to think the entire planet is Just Like Them, not realising that many countries don't have issues with guns, and don't have Us VS Them style politics either.

Frankly, the biggest problem we have with guns is smuggled handguns from the US. That is, illegal gun ownership.

Honestly, I think every rural gun owner should get behind gun control in the US. It's the nutjobs, those who snap, or shouldn't have guns (illegal ownership) which is the true problem.

Up here, you have to take a gun safety course to get a gun. It's not onerous, and it's taught by another gun owner, one who decided to set up shop and do so! If you can't pass that course (for example, don't point your gun at anyone -- ever!), you don't deserve a gun.

And it's mandated, and you plain and simple can't buy ammo, or a gun, unless you have a license. And you cannot get a license, if you have a violent past, and a variety of other things.

For example, get charged with a violent crime? Your license is immediately suspended, and you cannot have guns any more.

I guess I have a short fuse here, because your politics are infecting our politics, as many people barely understand the law, or that "there isn't here".

[indymike]

> Frankly, the biggest problem we have with guns is smuggled handguns from the US. That is, illegal gun ownership.

This is a huge problem in the US, as well. Most gun crimes are committed with unregistered, stolen, borrowed, or otherwise illegally obtained handguns. It's uncommon to have a crime where the weapons were purchased legally by the criminal.

> For example, get charged with a violent crime? Your license is immediately suspended, and you cannot have guns any more.

It is the same thing here. If you are charged with a violent crime, your guns will be seized. If you are convicted, you cannot own legally without a court order re-instating your rights.

> because your politics are infecting our politics, as many people barely understand the law, or that "there isn't here".

All politics are local, and the internet is global. The issue in the US is that the urban areas don't understand the need for firearms in rural areas. Rural people don't understand how dangerous firing even a .22 rifle is in a city, how terrifying seeing someone with a 9mm on their hip in a crowd is, or how many street criminals will target you just to steal your gun.