>>But isn't that the point? You are saying that people should be allowed to have guns, and the government should keep it's nose out of it. Doesn't that mean that my life is in the hands of each gun owners own concept of 'personal responsibility'? If I don't trust gun owners to necessarily understand the concept of or to practice any sane personal responsibility, then what are my options if the government isn't allowed to impose regulations?
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>Going back to the driver's license example. You are taking the same risks just driving down to the corner store. Do you trust each and every one else on the road to fully obey the laws and drive responsibly? Of course not. But (in theory, anyway) all drivers should have some understanding of traffic rules and driver responsibilities.
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>The same should be true for gun ownership. Want a gun? You should have a license for gun ownership. General ownership, not per-gun like in so many other countries. It's anathema to the NRA (of which I'm a member), but I think it would cut down on accidents as well as help keep firearms out of the hands of some of the unresponsible.
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>I don't know how traffic is in Toronto, but in Houston it gets pretty nasty. I was struck by a pickup at 16, witnessed dozens of accidents (including fatal ones), and have been in a couple minor ones myself. But I can count on one hand the number of people I know that have been involved in gun accidents.
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>Don't take my stance to mean that firearms should be completely unrestricted. There should be restrictions (minors and felons, for example, shouldn't be allowed them), but as a law-abiding citizen, I should be able to purchase what I want (short of a bazooka) as long as I can prove myself willing to accept the responsibilities that go along with it.

Just a few general comments:

I think your comparison of "driver's license" to "right to own a gun" is specious. I'm sure we can agree that most people need to be able to drive a vehicle. We probably disagree on whether most people need to own a gun - I happen to believe they don't, more discussion on that below. So in the case of driver's licenses we're talking about accepting accidents and deaths as a necessary evil; since gun ownership is not necessary, any associated accidents and deaths are not necessary and should not be accepted.

From what I've been able to gather, you have a military background and you're an NRA member. In contrast I'll give you a little of mine:

- I'm 46 years old, always lived in Canada
- I have never touched or handled any firearm
- I have never, in my whole life, seen a handgun that was not secured in a holster attached to a law enforcement officer. I have never seen a law enforcement officer with a drawn handgun
- I don't personally know any private Canadian citizen who owns a handgun

From what I've gathered over the years, my experience is by no means unusual in Canada, it is probably normal. I believe the vast majority of Canadian citizens do not own handguns. Personally I feel no need to own one.

Rates of gun violence in Canada are far lower than in the US; we want to keep it that way. That, plus the federal election campaign explains the reaction to the recent Toronto shootings. I feel just as outraged, just yesterday 4 people were shot in a Vancouver suburb - all known to police, none cooperating with the investigations. In another suburb a quiet residential home not known to police took 5 rounds in various rounds from a drive-by (at this point thought to be a "mistake").

Our current federal government has spent $2B on a "gun registry". On a per-capita basis that's about the same as the US feds creating a $20B program. Its supporters will claim it's a success based on perhaps having helped save a very few lives but most Canadians recognize the money would have been much better spent in better enforcement of existing laws, improving the functioning of the justice system, addressing poverty etc. So there's also a feeling that we've spent a lot of money to ensure our relatively gun-free status stays that way but that it was wasted. Who knows, if it had been better spent maybe we wouldn't be facing the gun violence increases we're seeing up here.