[skipants]

> I suspect that Canada isn't fond of how Americans view guns

I'm putting this into my overflowing bucket of internet comments that doesn't "get" Canadians. Sorry to be curt but, since Canada-USA relations has been more at the forefront, I've seen too many comments that just "don't get it" and it riles me up each time.

They've had the 2nd amendment since their country was founded. It has no bearing on relations between the two countries, both at a micro and macro level.

We respect that they are their own country and have their own ways of doing things, which isn't even the same across each state. We respect US sovereignty over their own laws. It's the lack of respect for ours by the current US administration that is upsetting.

That's basically all its come down to. Oh, and the tariffs don't help either.

[selectodude]

Also the idea that Canada is in any way anti-gun is ludicrous.

[wl]

With very few exceptions, you can’t acquire handguns in Canada anymore. They’ve also banned most semiautomatic rifles.

Maybe Canadian public opinion isn’t anti-gun, but the current government seems to be.

[selectodude]

It doesn’t take too much effort to square the idea of being fine with firearms while not being a weapon-access absolutist. I’m able to have nuanced opinions about a lot of things that have negative externalities. Like how cigarettes kick ass but so do indoor smoking bans.

[cmrdporcupine]

As an occasional pipe or cigar smoker... I'm personally trying to square this "cigarettes kick ass" thing with real world experience :-)

Really? How?

[selectodude]

Simple. Cigarettes make you cool and hot, offering or bumming a light outside is instant chemistry to chat somebody up, and although I haven’t been a chronic smoker in probably a decade now, a drunk cig outside on a chilly night still hits like crack.

It’s not the heater itself, it’s everything else about them that is 10/10.

[cmrdporcupine]

It's funny / overall-positive to compare how we seemingly see them to how my daughter's generation (18) sees them. In my 20s in the 90s despite being a mainly-non-smoker I felt/thought as you. That's not how my daughter or her peers think though.

[cmrdporcupine]

Right, so.

We're not anti-gun. Just anti the "only used explicitly for killing people" kind of gun.

I grew up and live in rural Canada. Rifles for hunting or farming are just part of life. Though the long gun registry did make them more of a hassle.

Why do you need a killing-person gun? What's that for?

[mothballed]

I'm not yielding to your premise but I'll entertain it for a moment. Massive biological differences aside, the rough composition and weight of a deer isn't so much different than a human. An AR chambered in something like 6.5 is one of the most ergonomic and effective deer killing machines you could possibly use. Very light, able to make follow up shots easily, swappable magazines, insane aftermarket availability and cheap ammunition for training because nearly the entire US military uses the parts, etc etc.

[BobaFloutist]

How many deer are you trying to kill in one go??

[mothballed]

That's not determined by the gun but rather the magazine. The 30 round magazine is popular largely because it's often the cheapest and most readily available as the tooling was scaled up for mass production for the military. You can buy a 5 round magazine to put in an AR style gun it's just harder to find and it's not clear you're gaining much beyond maybe a slight hair better ergonomics or mobility from certain shooting positions so most hunters don't buy them.

If you want to single-load cartridges or pin to a 3 round magazine or whatever, have at it. Most of the argument still applies and especially the cheapness and parts availability and intercompatibility with mass after market options. Plus you'll be able to use a larger mag when target shooting. Another plus even if you don't care about magazine size is you can easily swap the barrel (actually upper receiver) without having to legally buy a new gun, so you can train with very cheap .22 ammunition using all the same ergonomics / muscle memory for when you hunt deer.

[8note]

can you back this up with how many hunters prefer going out with handguns as their weapon of choice for hunting deer?

[mothballed]

There's actually a shit-ton of deer hunters in the US that hunt with .300 blackout under 16" barrel AR-type weapons that are legally "handguns." In part because the handgun-length barrel makes it less unwieldy when you add a suppressor on the end (if they put a stock on it, it becomes a short barreled [baddy] 'rifle' again but for retarded vestigial legal reasons they put a "brace" on it which does the same thing but magically means you don't need an NFA stamp). Though that was not directly question posed to which I answered.

It's kind of antiquated to use a "rifle"-length barrel for intermediate cartridge nowadays. The military uses a 14.5" barrel as standard issue for the AR-15 type rifle, which is "handgun" length, and most intermediate cartridges are handier and lighter in a legally handgun sized barrel for targets within the range of what you're likely to see in wooded areas. This means to use the most practical intermediate cartridge lengths you actually legally have a handgun with a "brace" on it.

[cmrdporcupine]

I mean, I've not heard any of the hunters I know complaining about the efficacy of their hunting rifles for taking down deer, moose, or even bears.

[mothballed]

It's my understanding hunters in Canada are often using the SKS for intermediate cartridge hunting, largely because it's/was cheap and wildly available, which was designed for killing people.

[mothballed]

Everyone with a rifle and a hacksaw has ready access to a very loud handgun.