[orthodoc]

Organized gangs going after farm equipment? Yikes. I read about a farmer who tried to defend himself against a home intrusion and ended up being charged rather than the intruders. That's what happens in Canada as well.

Although the firearm death rates may be lower in Canada, the predicament of not being permitted to defend yourself coupled with the high incidence of violentl crime (and no legal recourse) was what made me feel unsafe in Ontario. No one was looking out for the law-abiding folks; if you became a victim people figured you hadn't been careful enough, or shrugged and said, 'What can you do?'

My father, who is 79, has had his home robbed twice in the past few years (nice suburban area of the nation's capital). The second time he returned home to find the criminals loading a small truck with his belongings. He pulled across the driveway to prevent them leaving and they drove across the lawn, digging up his garden with their tires. When the police came by a few days later to take a report, he told them he'd thought about pulling into the driveway and rear-ending their truck to disable it. The police told him in that case they would've charged him, and not even to think about it if he didn't want to be arrested. Not because it would be unsafe to confront criminals! But because they would consider him a criminal. You're expected to lie down for this kind of thing and do the Canadian shrug.