Canadians mock U.S. tourist who complained about not being able to carry a gun

[chijim]

Canadians mock U.S. tourist who complained about not being able to carry a gun

By Agence France-Presse
Friday, August 10, 2012 15:03 EDT





Canadians this week ridiculed a nervous American tourist over his criticisms of Canada’s strict gun laws following what he said was “menacing” encounter with two young men in a Calgary park.
Walt Wawra of Kalamazoo, Michigan detailed his account of a chance meeting in Nose Hill Park in a letter to the editor of the Calgary Herald, during a recent visit to the city in western Canada.
Wawra said he and his wife were confronted in broad daylight on a paved trail by two men who asked “in a very aggressive tone” if the couple had “been to the Stampede yet?”
“They approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner,” he wrote, that the off-duty cop instinctively reached for where his sidearm would have been had he been south of the border.
“I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, ‘Gentlemen, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye,’” he said. “I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort.”
“Many would say I have no need to carry (a gun) in Canada,” Wawra added. “Yet the police cannot protect everyone all the time. A man should be allowed to protect himself if the need arises.”
The letter sparked a flurry of ridicule.
A Calgary restaurant owner wrote on a sidewalk sandwich board, “Have you been to the Stampede yet? Just kidding, don’t shoot me!”
“At the off leash (dog park) this morning when two terriers started to sniff my dog. If only Canada would allow my dog to pack heat,” tweeted Connor Turner.
“Ice cream truck just sped past house. Sir, I have no need for your refreshing pseudo-milk product treats. Goodbye,” said Kikki Planet in another Twitter message.
The daily National Post recounted the story alongside photos of gun-totting actor Clint Eastwood in the movie “Dirty Harry” and Charles Bronson as a vigilante in “Death Wish.”
The Huffington Post, meanwhile, ran the headline: “Fear and Loathing in Cowtown,” referring to Calgary’s cattle industry links.
Subsequent to the furor, a tourism official said the two young men who encountered Wawra were simply giving out free passes to the Calgary Stampede rodeo.

[crowjane]

Oh my..

[Marina]

Canada had better tighten up its long border to keep out these nuts they seem to attract.

[Redsky327]

I don't have a gun. For good reason, too. No one should allow me to have one. I'd have WAY too much fun, at least for a while. Seriously - just give me a gun for a couple of days and let me get it out of my system.

That being said, I know people who live in very nice neighborhoods, never go out at night, don't have drug issues, etc., etc., yet they would never DREAM of leaving their home without their darn fine gun in their purses. I ask them, "Just how many times in your past have you been attacked?" Their answer is always, "Never - but you never know...".

Good grief, people! Even most men don't put on a condom unless they are about 20 seconds from liftoff!!!

I want to know what is making people so dang paranoid that grannies feel they have to have their gun in their purse to go to the grocery store!!! (That was rhetorical - I have a feeling I know why...)

[crowjane]

Beats me Red

[staci]

Still not getting past the aggressive Canadian...

It is that kind of knee jerk paranoia that makes me think most people should not be allowed to carry in public

[Nancy in ME]

Originally Posted by Redsky327

I don't have a gun. For good reason, too. No one should allow me to have one. I'd have WAY too much fun, at least for a while. Seriously - just give me a gun for a couple of days and let me get it out of my system.

That being said, I know people who live in very nice neighborhoods, never go out at night, don't have drug issues, etc., etc., yet they would never DREAM of leaving their home without their darn fine gun in their purses. I ask them, "Just how many times in your past have you been attacked?" Their answer is always, "Never - but you never know...".

Good grief, people! Even most men don't put on a condom unless they are about 20 seconds from liftoff!!!

I want to know what is making people so dang paranoid that grannies feel they have to have their gun in their purse to go to the grocery store!!! (That was rhetorical - I have a feeling I know why...)

Ditto! Ditto!! Ditto!!!!!!!


WI just recently passed a concealed weapon law. I cannot even begin to tell you, at this point, how many people have applied for concealed carry permits. It was well over 100,000 last I heard. WHY???? Okay, maybe if you have the misfortune of living in Milwaukee I can understand it. But the rest of WI?? Really??

To me, if you feel the need to carry concealed everywhere you go, and you aren't a LEO, then you might need to examine your own life to see where you went wrong. Or you need to move. One or the other.

For the record, I am not anti handgun. Assault rifles? Yes. I do oppose those.

[crowjane]

How do you think they get all those holes in the cheese?

[ncsoutherngirl]

Originally Posted by crowjane

How do you think they get all those holes in the cheese?

[Nancy in ME]

Originally Posted by crowjane

How do you think they get all those holes in the cheese?

[maude]

"Have you been to the Stampede yet?" definitely constitutes grounds for a stand your ground shooting defense. Hell, if you killed a guy for asking that question, you shouldn't even be brought to trial, and wouldn't therefore need a defense. What's wrong with the world, huh?, when you can't reach for a gun because somebody asks, "Have you been to the Stampede yet?"

[Patrick]

I shake my head every time I go to the grocery store. There are people shopping at Fry's (Kroger) with guns hanging at their sides. Afraid of a hoodlum bag of salad? We keep asking ourselves, "where in the hell did we move to?".

[SJR]

Originally Posted by Patrick

I shake my head every time I go to the grocery store. There are people shopping at Fry's (Kroger) with guns hanging at their sides. Afraid of a hoodlum bag of salad? We keep asking ourselves, "where in the hell did we move to?".

Texas is bad, but I haven't encountered guns in the grocery store, yet!!! Now, that would scare the crud out of me. It's kind of like when we go to Dallas, I never look over at a person in another car on the freeway for fear they will shoot me.

[Nancy in ME]

Once they passed the concealed carry law here, businesses had to spend a small fortune on signs prohibiting them from the premises. Seriously, "no guns or weapons of any kind" signs are EVERYWHERE now.

[crowjane]

Crazy shit

[DecoMom]

Am wishing some of these folks would stay home where they feel safe. The likes of them make it hecka difficult for folks like me when traveling outside the U.S. Used to be foreigners expected me to only speak English. Now they'll think I'm packing too. Oy.

[Sly Cooper]

"Just how many times in your past have you been attacked?" Their answer is always, "Never - but you never know...".

I see that as a valid reason if they are of sound mind and will not shot anything they THINK is a threat. We all do things "just in case" most prefer to have a plan in plane before it happens to you.

Seat belt just in case, helmet just in case, locks, alarm system, computer backups, extra food etc.. even if nothing bad as ever happened we have these things just in case and I personally see that as a valid reason if it is right for them.

Not sure why anyone should wait until something happens to take action. On a personal level a gun would just be troublesome, running some errands and thinking about where it can and cannot go, you would have to see a possible issue to be able to use it (I tend to notice things) seems more trouble then it may be worth depending where you live.

As for the story, he sounds a little trigger happy.

Once they passed the concealed carry law here, businesses had to spend a small fortune on signs prohibiting them from the premises. Seriously, "no guns or weapons of any kind" signs are EVERYWHERE now.

Which seems completely pointless, unless a business actively stops people from bringing in a gun there is no reason point, if someone means harm a sign in sure not going to do any good.

[boulderbelt]

Paranoia will destroy you...

[Sly Cooper]

Originally Posted by boulderbelt

Paranoia will destroy you...

Where is the line between paranoia and being prepared?

[Chef Caine]

Originally Posted by DecoMom

Am wishing some of these folks would stay home where they feel safe. The likes of them make it hecka difficult for folks like me when traveling outside the U.S. Used to be foreigners expected me to only speak English. Now they'll think I'm packing too. Oy.

Canadians already do. When Plague of Locusts was much younger I used to take him to hockey school in Canada. We would stay at my parents' house on the American side and drive across the border every day. Each day of the two week school, Canadian immigration would ask, "Where were you born?" to which I repled "Niagara Falls, NY." Then they'd ask "Where do you live?" to which I'd reply "California" to which they'd immediately respond with "Do you have any firearms in your vehicle?" This happened EVERY day with EVERY border crossing. I was beginning feel like they thought this was still the wild west out here. I wonder, when someone from Calgary comes across the border, do they expect him to be riding a horse?

[amjabo1]

Whenever I go from Canada to the US the US Immigration officials ask me the same questions - where do you live and do you have any fire arms. I don't think that says anything about their perceptions, just a valid standard question at a border crossing.

Originally Posted by Chef Caine

Canadians already do. When Plague of Locusts was much younger I used to take him to hockey school in Canada. We would stay at my parents' house on the American side and drive across the border every day. Each day of the two week school, Canadian immigration would ask, "Where were you born?" to which I repled "Niagara Falls, NY." Then they'd ask "Where do you live?" to which I'd reply "California" to which they'd immediately respond with "Do you have any firearms in your vehicle?" This happened EVERY day with EVERY border crossing. I was beginning feel like they thought this was still the wild west out here. I wonder, when someone from Calgary comes across the border, do they expect him to be riding a horse?

[Nancy in ME]

Originally Posted by Sly Cooper

Which seems completely pointless, unless a business actively stops people from bringing in a gun there is no reason point, if someone means harm a sign in sure not going to do any good.

Businesses are completely within their rights to ban weapons from their property. 99% of the population has absolutely NO NEED for carrying concealed 100% of the time. Or at all, for that matter.

I swear, the flood of applications for concealed carry permits, at least up here, is that the residents think carrying is cool.

[pippee_pl]

this sounds like it should be from the onion. it isn't real, is it?

[DecoMom]

Originally Posted by pippee_pl

this sounds like it should be from the onion. it isn't real, is it?

Says Agence France-Presse.

[chijim]

Walt Wawra To Write Second Letter To The Editor, About Guns

The Huffington Post Canada | By Seema Dhawan Posted: 08/10/2012 7:42 pm Updated: 08/11/2012 2:26 am



Walt Wawra to write second letter to the editor, regarding lack of guns in Canada. (AP)

Give Walt Wawra a break in his comments about 'Nose Hill gentlemen,' some Calgarians say



American police officer, who visited Calgary during Stampede, plans to write second letter to editor on handgun issue



By Tamara Gignac, Calgary Herald August 10, 2012


CALGARY — As critics continue to heap scorn on a Michigan police officer who publicly lamented his inability to carry a gun while on vacation in Calgary, others say the American is being treated unfairly.
In a letter to the Herald, Walt Wawra described a recent encounter with two “gentlemen” at Nose Hill Park while he and his wife were visiting the city.
He said the men asked “in a very aggressive tone” if he and his wife had been to the Calgary Stampede. Wawra brushed them off but said he wished Canadian laws allowed him to carry a gun for protection.
His paranoia over a seemingly mundane incident prompted a social media explosion on both sides of the border as many on Twitter debated everything from gun control to Canadian and U.S. values.
But some say Wawra hasn’t been given a fair shake.
“Everyone is dumping on this poor man,” said retired Calgarian Jim Miller.
“None of us were there. How can everybody assume these two guys were friendly? It’s turned into an anti-American rant. Let’s cut this guy some slack. He’s unwittingly poked a hornet’s nest.”
In a letter to the Herald, one man said it’s plausible that Wawra and his wife “were accosted in an open wilderness with few witnesses around by two possible con men under the apparent pretext of so-called Canadian friendliness.”
Letter to the Herald: Easy on the bigotry.
Letter to the Herald: Too many guns.
Letter to the Herald: Mass murder capital.
Letter to the Herald: Thanks Canucks.
But the man at the centre of the firestorm declined to comment on the matter Thursday, saying only that he’s been misunderstood.
Wawra, who lives in Kalamazoo, plans to write a second letter to clarify the incident.
“I like truth — I don’t like conjecture,” he said.
“If I bear some kind of responsibility for any kind of misinformation or misunderstanding, that is something I would like to clear up.”
Wawra’s letter has sparked interest south of the border, with the popular U.S. website Gawker reporting on the matter.
There were even rumours the two men in question worked for the Stampede and were giving out free passes to the park.
Not true, said Stampede spokesman Doug Fraser.
“The fact of the matter is we have a much bigger publicity and marketing machine than two people wandering through a park,” he said.
But the incident continues to keep people talking, both inside the Twitterverse and beyond.
A Calgary restaurant’s cheeky chalkboard went viral Wednesday after it poked fun at Wawra with the message: “Have you been to the Stampede yet? Just kidding. Don’t shoot me.”
Only two patrons expressed bewilderment at the sign, said Taste owner Brendan Bankowski.
Letter to the Herald: Canadian way.
Letter to the Herald: Perfectly safe.
“We’re making fun of it as most people are, but if you dig deeper, there are serious issues here,” he said.
“It’s interesting how this story stirs conversation in people. My kitchen staff, who are in their 20s, spent the morning discussing gun control. Pretty weird, but cool.”
Another image making the rounds on Twitter shows a picture of Clint Eastwood’s character Dirty Harry with the phrase: “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Have you been to the Stampede yet?”
Wawra has shared his opinions in newspapers before.
In 2011, the Kalamazoo Gazette published a letter in which he took issue with U.S. President Barack Obama’s invitation of rapper Common to the White House.
“As Christians, we are called to pray for those in authority over us,” he wrote then. “I ask you to exercise this command of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give our President wisdom, knowledge and the conviction to live a life of righteousness.”
tgignac@calgaryherald Twitter:/TamaraGignac

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Give+Wa...#ixzz23FymVUPf

[ohhhhhhhhhm]

Do you know what's really bad about this? The guys in the park were seen handing out free tickets to the Stampede!!! They asked if he'd gone, because they had free tickets to give out. Happens at the Stampede and at the Ex on warrior's day. Every year. Great reason to get shot at, yeah?

[LoreD]

Originally Posted by ohhhhhhhhhm

Do you know what's really bad about this? The guys in the park were seen handing out free tickets to the Stampede!!! They asked if he'd gone, because they had free tickets to give out. Happens at the Stampede and at the Ex on warrior's day. Every year. Great reason to get shot at, yeah?

Well, I guess this police officer needs to protect his wife from overly aggressive friendliness. That certainly would made Americans afraid and ready to shoot.

LoreD

[Sly Cooper]

Originally Posted by ohhhhhhhhhm

Do you know what's really bad about this? The guys in the park were seen handing out free tickets to the Stampede!!! They asked if he'd gone, because they had free tickets to give out. Happens at the Stampede and at the Ex on warrior's day. Every year. Great reason to get shot at, yeah?

I found it very odd that he acted like he was going to draw his gun because someone strongly asked a question, a little jumpy there.

Originally Posted by Nancy in ME

Businesses are completely within their rights to ban weapons from their property. 99% of the population has absolutely NO NEED for carrying concealed 100% of the time. Or at all, for that matter.

I swear, the flood of applications for concealed carry permits, at least up here, is that the residents think carrying is cool.

Of course they are, my point was that allowing them or not will not stop anyone with harm in mind, so it would have to be for another reason. Not everyone with a gun is of sound mind and careful, like the story where it fell out of their pocket and went off, that was careless. People do have reasons for wanting a concealed weapon, possible protection, I can understand that.

[pippee_pl]

the guy sounds like a bit of a freak- probably shouldn't even have a gun in the first place.

I am also sure that Canada is probably the only place he has ever been outside of the U.S. and he probably b*tched about it the whole time. Somebody that doesn't like new things and doesn't like change.

[Marina]

I bet you are right, pippee. The only reason he went there was because his wife wanted to and he was humoring her, and maybe thought he would get to see a real Mountie.