More guns, less crime?

I'm not sure how accurate the report of MP Garry Breitkreuz's is.

He may have been misinterpreted. And of course carrying a concealed weapon in Canada (especially a gun) is (absent very special circumstances) a major crime and not something anyone should do.

But assume Canada became a 'carry state', would crime drop?

Perhaps.

The evidence from the USA is ambiguous. While I'd prefer to say crime is unaffected, or increases, when people carry guns the evidence is less clear. Some studies suggest 'more guns, less crime' while others go the other way. (See: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Guns,_Less_Crime).

Tory MP under fire for giving pro-gun speech to teens http://bit.ly/H2ozCz

"Saskatchewan Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz found himself in hot water Thursday after an Ottawa mother complained he told a Grade 10 class that everyone in Canada should be armed - especially girls.

Dianna Sakisheway wrote a scathing letter to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews this week. Her complaint stems from a speech Breitkreuz - known as the father of the legislation to repeal the longgun registry - gave during a career day at Canterbury High School on March 7.

"I am outraged at the irresponsible conduct of the federal government in promoting gun violence to schoolchildren," Sakisheway wrote. "You have gone much too far.

"Mr. Breitkreuz spent most of his allotted time discussing firearms and cited a Texas study that showed women who carry guns are less likely to get raped, including a specific number of women who avoided rape as they were armed," Sakisheway wrote in another letter obtained by Postmedia News.

"Stop assaulting the sensibilities of our children," she wrote."