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Americans, don't bring your guns to Canada (not that you would).
On Tuesday, the Calgary Herald newspaper published a letter to the editor under the heading Nose Hill Park confrontation makes visitors feel unsafe. The full text of the letter is online here and excerpted below. Although the letter does not specify an exact date for the event to unfold, presumably it took place during the Calgary Stampede, an internationally known rodeo and fair that takes place in early July.
I recently visited Calgary from Michigan. As a police officer for 20 years, it feels strange not to carry my off-duty hand-gun. Many would say I have no need to carry one in Canada.
An American cop, visiting Canada, and not carrying his hand gun as usual. Maybe this is going to be a tale of joy, the exhilaration of feeling safe without the urge to shoot someone. Or maybe something else.
Something else is below.
Recently, while out for a walk in Nose Hill Park, in broad daylight on a paved trail, two young men approached my wife and me. The men stepped in front of us, then said in a very aggressive tone: "Been to the Stampede yet?"
Uh oh.
I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, "Gentle-men, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye." They looked bewildered, and we then walked past them.
Passers-by ask a question, in some vaguely aggressive way, then look bewildered at the non-vaguely aggressive response.
I speculate they did not have good intentions when they approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort, but rather concluded it was in their best interest to leave us alone.
Wait a moment, you give thanks that the gentlemen did not have a weapon. Were they about to attack you, an unarmed pedestrian? What would have been your response, considering that they might have had a gun, and you didn't have yours? It would not have been in their best interest to attack you while you were unarmed? Or are you really lamenting that you didn't have your gun handy, whether or not the gentlemen were armed? Or attacking? Or menacing? I'm confused.
Walt Wawra, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Now, unless the readers of this diary include Walt or the gentlemen in question, none of us knows precisely what was said or in what manner. Walt is a cop, trained to be on the lookout for aggression and respond accordingly. Did he over-react? Was the question asked of him a friendly gesture from friendly-by-reputation Canadians in a public place in broad daylight during party season? Or were the two gentlemen menacing in their tone or behaviour (with the Canadian spelling of that word)? How might things have turned out differently had Walt been packing heat?
The following day, the editorial page of the paper carried a lengthy editorial by Naomi Lankritz:
Yes, Walt Wawra is a real person. No, the letter we published from him Tuesday, about the “confrontation” he and his wife had with two Calgarians in Nose Hill Park, was not a hoax. The fact that so many readers have written in, or posted comments online, wondering if it was for real, speaks volumes about the cultural differences between Canadians and Americans. It gives the lie to those who say that Canadians are no different than Americans.
Wednesday's letters page also carried a number of readers' responses, which we will get to shortly.
He also complained about Canadian gun laws, saying that in Canada, only the police and criminals carry handguns. Yes, that’s true, and it’s probably one of the reasons when there’s a dispute over a parking space in Canada, nobody dies from bullet wounds as a result.
Them's fightin' words, Naomi.
Most likely, the men noticed something about the Wawras that indicated they were tourists, and were trying to make conversation. Maybe they themselves were enjoying the Stampede’s centennial celebration and wanted to let these tourists know that their visit to Calgary wouldn’t be complete without a day at the Stampede. The fact that the young men looked bewildered by Wawra’s response indicates that their intentions were indeed friendly ones and that they were quite puzzled at being rebuffed.
That seems to be a key point. Why would the two gentlemen look bewildered at an aggressive response, unless their original approach was not itself aggressive? Conversely, if you instigate a threat, and receive a threat in response, you might not be suprised by that.
Wawra did not return my call requesting an interview Tuesday afternoon.
Maybe he's already explained all you people need to know.
It doesn’t seem to have occurred to Wawra that the need didn’t arise in Calgary, and that if he’d been carrying a handgun, two people might now be dead because they asked him if he’d been to the Stampede.
Well we can only speculate as to how this event might have escalated had Walt been carrying his gun. He's a cop, trained to detect threats, and he's telling us that he felt threatened. From the little we know about the situation, we can debate whether or not the two gentlemen were actually threatening, or if a friendly gesture was mis-interpreted.
Regardless, the discussion carries on, without Walt's further input. One reader's LTE response:
I visit Calgary every year and I always walk as often as I can, alone, in Nose Hill Park. I enjoy the peace and quiet and the feeling that I am totally safe. I can only assume that Walt Wawra and his wife felt uncomfortable because they come to Canada with American worries and fears.
For sure, there is violence and crime in Canada. There is aggressive behaviour, and people generally up to no good. But at least one other visitor's view is that you can feel safe in Calgary in public in broad daylight.
Another letter:
What a sad belief system, that you cannot feel safe unless you carry a gun.
I do get the impression that Walt feels that way. Another one:
Holy cow. Walt from Michigan, get a grip! You are paranoid and I thank the Lord Jesus Christ you weren't carrying your hand-gun.
The Lord Jesus Christ seems to be quite busy these days, accepting all these thanks. And finally, for this round:
Seriously, Mr. Wawra, it's probably best if you and the missus stay home where your guns can quickly put paid to any aggressive young man, potential terrorist, dog walker or cookie-dealing girl scout whom you might speculate "does not have good intentions."
Hyperbole aside, the consensus seems to be that perhaps Walt Wawra should confine his vacation time to the good ol' U.S. of A. Walt and Canada don't seem to be a good match.
The Calgary Herald follows up today with yet another article on the subject, Paranoid Kalamazoo cop ridiculed over need to bear arms in Calgary park.
An American tourist who felt the need to pack heat in a Calgary park has set off a storm of social media ridicule.
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Gawker.com called Wawra the “laughingstock of Canada.”
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The Huffington Post Canada described it as “Fear and Loathing in Cowtown.”
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Congregating under the Twitter hashtag: #NoseHillGentlemen, the Twittersphere mocked the officer’s paranoia after his letter was posted online.
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“At the off leash this morning when two terriers started to sniff my dog, If only Canada would allow my dog to pack heat. #nosehillgentlemen,” wrote Connor Turner.
And thus, Walt Wawra of Kalamazoo, Mich, evolves into the stuff of parody.