The crime rate is lower in Cuba too, and I saw virtually no one carrying a gun there...except for two cops, and a pair of soldiers on the north shore at the beach. This was in a whole week. On a similar week in Canada (where the crime rate is also lower than in the USA) I would have seen probably about 50 cops and probably no soldiers.

In Mexico, where the crime rate is pretty damn high, I would have seen more like 150 cops, some with machine guns, and more than a few soldiers, heavily armed.

I have never seen fewer cops per square mile than I saw in Cuba.

So...where are we going with this argument?

Paranoia is its own punishment.

If you create a greedy, ruthless society, full of hatred, fear, desperation, and gross inequality...you will have violence. Plenty of it.

As for the old lady, I would have had no objection to her shooting the guy that attacked her in her driveway...and I also feel no need to personally own a gun. Okay?

- LH