Sorry I came late to this conversation--

Lighter: I'm surprised to read that Canadians "own guns at a rate half that of the US." I remember Michael Moore, in his film *Bowling for Columbine* said the opposite: that Canadians owned more guns but had less gun violence. However, I'm pretty sure Moore was including rifles and shotguns. (More Canadians are hunters). I'll bet your figures refer only to handguns.

Another point that Moore made was that the tradition of keeping guns for self-defense became strong in the South during slavery days because whites were always afraid of slave rebellions. Also, the gangs that went out to recapture runaway slaves were armed, and guns were used to intimidate blacks during the Jim Crow era. So my guess is, there are still regional differences in gun ownership, and the northern states may be more comparable to Canada.