An American 🇺🇸 recently asked me: how does it feel living in Canada 🇨🇦 and not being able to defend your family because of Trudeau’s gun laws? There is so much to unpack here.
Because you have a plan in case of a home invasion? I doubt it. It’s easy to find Americans who will crow about what they would do if someone kicked their door in, but I’d say very few have an actual self-defense plan (beyond a surveillance system and a handgun). Sure, the US may have the most privately owned guns, but very few of them actually have a home defense plan. Home invasions overwhelmingly happen in cities and suburbs, and it just so happens that urban and suburban Americans are terrible at teaching their children gun safety. Therefore most of their guns are locked up. Unavailable in a home defense situation. I really think most Americans would not know what to do in the event of a home invasion. So in that regard, I can’t really agree that there’s much difference between the US and Canada.
Because gun laws in Canada were so lenient before Trudeau? Let’s face it: Canada’s gun laws were already strict and stupid before Trudeau. Trudeau’s only contribution was the confiscation announcement, which as everyone knows has been all talk. It’s been four years and all they’ve collected have been polite refusals from provinces and police departments alike. We have no intention of confiscating guns. We don’t have the manpower. It’s not in our constituents’ best interests. More on gun confiscations later.
Gun-control advocates love guns too. That’s right: as loudly as pro-gun people crow about what they’ll do to anyone who tries to take their guns, the gun-control advocates are just as loud when they decry American “gun culture”. But the truth is they love guns, too. That’s right: because without them nobody would be able to enforce their busybody policies. You see, legislation is nothing more than busybodyism, the constant tweaking of policy—trimming the sails, so to speak—to keep society peaceful, orderly and prosperous. (Never mind that society is most peaceful, orderly and prosperous when you don’t have a bunch of busybodies experimenting with other people’s lives, which again is all politics really is.) You see, rarely do you ever hear someone say, oh, you want to get rid of guns. I agree. You first. Oh, no, they don’t really want to get rid of guns, do they. So yes, gun control people, if you were being truly intellectually honest, you’d admit that you secretly love guns, as long as they’re only in the hands of the policy enforcers.
Canada is actually poised to set an example to the world of what gun confiscation in the 21st century would look like—all you need is (1) a non-native police force and (2) just enough political will. The former is already in place. See, Americans have this Hollywoodized fantasy about gun confiscations that goes a little something like this: Oh, we know Sheriff Jimmy from high school; he’ll never try to confiscate our guns. But the reality is, 21st Century governments aren’t that dumb. No, they fill the ranks of their police forces (or “services” as they euphemistically call them up here) with cops that were born in every nation under the sun. And foreign-born cops will of course have no compunction about following a gun confiscation order. The latter is almost there. But given that Canada is in the midst of a drastic swing to the right—as is much of the rest of the world—the emergence of adequate political willpower to begin massive gun confiscations could be delayed by a few years. Or not. A(nother) bad enough mass shooting incident Could be enough for the gun confiscation to take place under the next administration. In fact, that’s my prediction. Trudeau goes down in history as saying he’s going to do it. But all he did was take credit—or blame—for instituting the policy. The next guy’s going to be the one who does it. Probably after campaigning on a platform of rolling back gun control legislation. Just requires enough of a false flag event.
How does all this help me in my new country, you ask? Notice that I have not mentioned the US Constitution, gun rights, self-defense, concealed-carry, school shootings/mass shootings, pharmaceuticals, or non-gun violence. Nor have I even expressed an opinion about guns or gun control. I would advise steering clear of all those mine-field issues. Avoid gun debates whenever possible, but if you must, best stick to driving home the point that gun-control advocates aren’t actually anti-gun. No, it’s better to stick to practical matters. “What's your home defense plan?” What are the gun laws in your new country? Is “self-defense” a dirty word? (You’d better never say it in Canada.) Have you thought about non-lethal means of home defense? Does your new home country have anything resembling good old-fashioned castle doctrine? (Probably not.) Does your new country practice civil law or common law, and how does that affect you?
Rather than take a deep dive, here are some resources that address the gun and self-defense laws in some popular countries that Americans and Canadians like to move to.
🇲🇽Mexico
Gun Laws in Latin America’s Largest Economies Although there is one glaring factual error. The article states there is only one gun store in Mexico; there are actually two gun stores in Mexico.
You can have a gun for home defense, which is great, but there’s pretty much no scenario wherein you’ll avoid jail if you carry on your person or in your car.
🇧🇿Belize
Guns and self defense in Belize Now I really love this newsletter and have subscribed for years. I don’t know anything about this particular writer, though.
Gun ownership is legal, but it’s not a right. Getting a conceal-carry permit is apparently doable if you have the right residency status and the right reasons.
No, they won’t likely let you bring all your guns from abroad.
🇨🇷Costa Rica
You can keep a gun in your home for self defense—if you can get your hands on one.
Pepper spray is OK to carry and is readily available.
🇪🇸Spain
Bottom line: forget about ever owning a gun in Spain. Or defending yourself with anything—baton, pepper spray, crossbow, anything else you can think of to keep in your home.
🇵🇹Portugal
Article from a Substacker who clearly knows so little about guns she thinks that “semiautomatic” actually means something.
Self-Defense had better not be your reason when you apply for a permit. Just as in Canada, and most places in the world, you should never utter the phrase “self-defense”.
Sounds like you even need a license to get pepper spray.
🇮🇹Italy
You can use a gun to defend your home. I know a lot can happen in five years, but apparently Italy relaxed its stance on home defense back in 2019.
Here’s a great article debunking the widely held misconception that only the US and Switzerland have a “gun culture”, per se.
🇮🇪Ireland
Paintball guns are considered firearms.
Pepper spray is totally illegal.
The article leaves out a few things, like how many you can have.
🇦🇺Australia
Australia enacted a massive gun confiscation scheme very similar to the one Trudeau has announced in Canada, but which has yet to be implemented.
Like many common law jurisdictions, don’t ever cite “self-defense” as your reason for owning anything.
Unlike in Canada it is not necessary to attempt to retreat first, but you’d better not use excessive force.
🇳🇿New Zealand
The cops want you to run away. It’s a good idea: best not to stand your ground if you’re out in public.
The gun laws are very strict. Expect to go through lots of hoops even if you become a naturalized citizen.
🇲🇾Malaysia
Super interesting self-defense case that came out of an appeals court: “a man who is assaulted is not bound to modulate his defence according to the attack, before there is reason to believe the attack is over. He is not obliged to retreat, but may pursue his adversary until he finds himself out of danger. And if he happens to kill in the conflict, it is justifiable even if his actions might seem a little excessive to a perfectly cool bystander. As a result, the court found that the accused did not exceed the right of private defence as he was preventing the possibility of a renewed attack onto himself.”
That’s one ruling that would never happen in Canada. The defender would be facing serious prison time. Probably in the US as well.
Not illegal to own and even carry pepper spray in Malaysia? I would double check this.
🇬🇧United Kingdom
You can prettty much forget about ever owning a handgun.
Rifles and shotguns are strictly regulated.
Just as the case in Toronto of Chelsea Arkarakas, which should really anger anyone with a female loved one, you’d better hope you don’t have a home defense situation wherein you overpower your attacker and end up winning. The murder charge will upturn your life, even if they eventually drop the charges.
No pepper spray in the UK.
Thanks for reading. Let me know if you like this topic and I may just reprise it with some AI advice for home defense.
Sincerely,
Gene Basler