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 American cop amazed at Canada's gun laws
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  02:24:36  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
And we Canadians are more than amazed right back at that guy's paranoia:

Wawra, who lives in Kalamazoo, Mich., is a police officer. While on a recent visit to Calgary, he and his wife, Debbie, were approached by two young men on a pathway in Nose Hill Park, who asked the Wawras if they had been to the Stampede yet. When they asked the question a second time, Wawra moved between the men and his wife and told them he had no need to talk to them. He said they looked “bewildered.” The parties then went their separate ways.

In his letter, Wawra said it felt strange not to carry his off-duty handgun in Canada and added that he thanked the Lord they didn’t pull a weapon on him. No benefit of the doubt given the young men, no thought that they might have just been trying to be friendly.

He also complained about Canadian gun laws, saying that in Canada, only the police and criminals carry handguns. Yes, that’s true, and it’s probably one of the reasons when there’s a dispute over a parking space in Canada, nobody dies from bullet wounds as a result.

Wawra’s mindset is what America’s gun mania has produced. How paranoid and how very sad.


Hat tip to PZ Myers who has the original letter (as does the Calgary paper, but I found it on Myer's first)

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.

On fire for Christ
SFN Regular

Norway
1273 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  02:54:28   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send On fire for Christ a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Maybe they were black.

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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  08:01:27   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No gun = loss of power = fear. Americans are a fearful people. Fear makes people dangerous, way more so than hate.


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13476 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  08:47:25   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by H. Humbert

No gun = loss of power = fear. Americans are a fearful people. Fear makes people dangerous, way more so than hate.


Bingo!

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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alienist
Skeptic Friend

USA
210 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  09:21:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send alienist a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by H. Humbert

No gun = loss of power = fear. Americans are a fearful people. Fear makes people dangerous, way more so than hate.

And fear often causes hate


The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well! - Joe Ancis
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  10:01:51   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by H. Humbert

No gun = loss of power = fear. Americans are a fearful people. Fear makes people dangerous, way more so than hate.
So arm them all, so they feel comfy and become less dangerous.

But seriously, back where he wears a uniform, this cop is a disaster waiting to happen. He doesn't even seem to understand the difference between being spoken to (and without threats, at that) and being threatened or attacked. Plus, why the Hell did he seem to assume the two men were armed?

Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
Edited by - HalfMooner on 08/09/2012 10:03:16
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moakley
SFN Regular

USA
1888 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  11:05:51   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send moakley a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Two questions come to mind.
1. How does the question "Have you been to the stampede?" sound when asked aggressively?
2. Had Mr. Wawra had his gun do you think he would have drawn it?


A few years ago my wife and I were leaving one of our favorite events the BrewGrass Festival in Asheville NC. Due to its location we had to park a good distance away on a side street. It was a bright sunny day early fall about 50 degrees so a light jacket was required, or not. We had just turned down our side street when I saw this young man coming from the other direction, same sidewalk, with a winter coat hanging from his right shoulder.

As we got near each other he started to speak, "Excuse me. I have this knife..." I had been at a beer festival this was not what I needed. So I stopped, placed myself between he and my wife, and locked eyes. He quickly realized how I might have misunderstood his intent and started to explain himself. Long story short he had somehow found himself abandoned in Asheville and was looking for bus fair to get back home. The only thing he had of value was his knife so he was trying to sell his knife for bus fair. I gave him the bus fair and told him I didn't want his knife. I wished him luck and we all went on our separate ways.

Life is good

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous
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Hawks
SFN Regular

Canada
1383 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  14:13:12   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Hawks's Homepage Send Hawks a Private Message  Reply with Quote
... he thanked the Lord they didn’t pull a weapon on him.

Eeeer. I think the a lot of the rest of us are pretty glad he wasn't able to pull a gun on THEM.

METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden!
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  17:18:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I love this comment.

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  17:47:05   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
From the link in the original post, a different perspective:

snowman alberta 3:08 PM on 8/9/2012
This story infuriates me. Not the initial story, as Wawra's tale of woe simply makes me chuckle (although I still believe it's a hoax). But the Naomi Lakritz response that this obviously "speaks volumes about the cultural differences between Canadians and Americans" raises my ire.
No, however this story does speak about the cultural differences between Canadians and one trigger-happy lunatic living in Michigan.
To suggest that this is the typical American mindset is absolutely absurd. Yes, that's the stereotype many of us 'superior' Canadians want to perpetuate, however it is simply that, a stereotype. This type of propaganda journalism is something I would expect of a cheap tabloid, not of a somewhat well respected newspaper.

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 08/09/2012 :  23:48:10   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by the_ignored

From the link in the original post, a different perspective:

snowman alberta 3:08 PM on 8/9/2012
This story infuriates me. Not the initial story, as Wawra's tale of woe simply makes me chuckle (although I still believe it's a hoax). But the Naomi Lakritz response that this obviously "speaks volumes about the cultural differences between Canadians and Americans" raises my ire.
No, however this story does speak about the cultural differences between Canadians and one trigger-happy lunatic living in Michigan.
To suggest that this is the typical American mindset is absolutely absurd. Yes, that's the stereotype many of us 'superior' Canadians want to perpetuate, however it is simply that, a stereotype. This type of propaganda journalism is something I would expect of a cheap tabloid, not of a somewhat well respected newspaper.

I think "snowman alberta" may have one point right: This may very well be a Poe hoax. Maybe a Canadian having some fun? But if the newspaper believed the letter was real, they were right to publish it. That's not bad journalism.

Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
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