(01-18-2013, 11:51 PM)Mavfin Wrote: I would actually say that Eppie and any other people who don't live here can have an opinion and voice it, sure. But, when it comes to laws being enacted, those opinions are *automatically irrelevant* because they don't live here and have NO stake in how any laws come out. Those laws won't affect them in any way, shape or form.
But the US is not an island, and your guns do not vanish upon contact with Canadian or Mexican soil.
Canada shares the world's longest undefended border with the United States. The US has a serious problem with legally purchased firearms (mostly handguns) being stolen and flooding the black market, and those guns find their way over borders.
Quote:There is enough unclassified data on the illicit gun trade in North America to establish the importance of guns smuggled from US sources in arming criminals in Canada and Mexico. The immediate result is a somewhat higher murder rate in Canada and a vast intensification of drug crime conflict near the Mexican border. But the United States is not the only source of guns to criminals in Canada and Mexico. The current importance of US sources reflects the basic economic facts of the situation: suitable guns are easily obtained on the open market in the United States and can be smuggled to Mexico at fairly low cost using routes and connections that have been well established for other sorts of contraband. -The illicit firearms trade in North America
So, no. This does affect other countries, including one of mine. I'll accept "keep your nose out of our business" the day the US succeeds in keeping guns from crossing the border.
-Jester