Ah yes, I keep forgetting that you are a Cannuk. My bad.

Can you get a CCW in your own country? I would not imagine that NHs CCW would do anything for you while in Canada.





I talked to a few of my LEO buddies and got a different answer every time. It is a tricky subject. But one thing they all agreed on is this. If you see someone hurting someone, you can try to stop it. But you must do so with the least amount of force possible.

You could get boned while trying to help someone out. One of the examples they gave me is this.

You are walking down the street, see someone pointing a gun at someone else. You draw on him and shoot him.

The guy with a gun was an off duty cop and was trying to arrest someone. You just killed a cop and are now in jail.

So you have to be very careful.

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Jones:- We're going to teach them climbing, abseiling, canoeing, archery, shooting...

Interviewer:- Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible isn't it?

Jones:- I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the range.

Interviewer:- Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?
You're equipping them to become violent killers.

Jones:- Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute but you're not one are you?

Yea, American CCWs are invalid in Canada. I usually travel to the US at least a few times a year though, so an American CCW would be helpful. Having a CCW from the US also allows us to show our politicians in Canada that law-abiding citizens are not the problem, and that we should be allowed the same rights that our American friends have.

A CCW system does exist in Canada, its called an ATC (authorization to carry). Yes, it can be issued for self-defense, but one must demonstrate an imminent threat to life and lack of police protection. Its extremely hard to get, mostly judges have been able to get them. I know of an individual who was a high-profile witness in a drug case who was issued an ATC because he was recommended by a judge. Basically, the average citizen has no chance to get one.

There are two other ways you can get an ATC though. The first is for wilderness protection. You must work in the wilderness to be eligible, like being a prospector, harvester, trapper, bush pilot, you get the idea. Generally, the conditions are you can only carry in the bush and while you are working. The second other way is that it is required for your occupation. Basically armoured car drivers and private security are eligible. The condition is you can only carry on the job.

Generally, even cops can't carry off-duty in Canada. Certain specialists officers who are on-call 24/7 are usually allowed though, but this is for convenience rather than protection.

Yea, it might be worse though if it was a plain clothes officer on-duty trying to arrest someone. Its hard to tell sometimes. I would think its always best to identy yourself and ask the person to place the gun down slowly.

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"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill

You have no more authority than anyone. You also have no less.

Now please allow me to ask YOU a question:

What do YOU think YOU should do?

For your answer, philosophically and legally, civilians DO have the right (if not an OBLIGATION) to help others. Still, each scenario can have its issues, and the devil is always in the details.

In the real world, the questions you will need to ask are:

Are my actions reasonable?
What would another reasonable person think or do in this situation?

Also, it is GOOD ADVICE to have THESE questions answered and the reasons identified, BEFORE you PULL THE TRIGGER

You must make all these decisions in a heart beat, hence training yourself all the time.

Know what lawyer you would call, too.

The CCW issue is complicated, if only from a legal perspective. Yes, CCW holders are encouraged NOT to enforce the law or act as Police Officers. Yes, we want our CCW holders to exhaust all reasonable avenues BEFORE they resort to using deadly force.

Still, I am certain they are encouraged to ALWAYS preserve life, too. Sometimes, to preserve life, we must take it.

I say do what you reasonably believe to be right. In the scenarios you describe, could YOU live with yourself, if you COULD have stopped a murder or rape, and failed to act?

In the end, that question will always be more important that what two lawyers will argue about. If the matter is justified -- END OF STORY Dammed be what they say if you know you did well and good!

You may lose your CCW privilege for a time -- until the matter is legally resolved as a Justifiable Homicide -- but YOU will be alive -- and hopefully another GOOD person will still be alive, too. For that reason alone, it is probably worth it.

So, in a nutshell -- in practice and according to case law -- a civilian may use deadly force to defend his or her OWN life, as well as defend the life of ANOTHER person -- such as your children, your wife -- or a stranger.

Just BE reasonable -- and hopefully, 12 people who could not get out of jury duty will agree -- since that is the legal standard we will apply.

In this hyper-litigious society, no one will blame you for NOT acting in someone else's behalf -- except maybe YOU. Your confusion is probably because this society's lawyers have created so much fear, even some GOOD people are afraid to act.

When GOOD PEOPLE are afraid to do what is right, who wins?

The devil is a lawyer, to be sure.

For those who understand, no further explanation is necessary. If you do not understand then you do not need to own. Nor do you need to respond.

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“It is anomalous to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot extract by force what is in his mind, but can extract what is in his stomach.”

I heard of some stories of people in the Yukon shooting a Bisons' with all sorts of calibre. Apparently people hunting Bison with 338 Lapua, 338 Win mag, 300 WSM will occasionally run into a Bison that refuses to go down. It might take three of four shots, and several minutes of a Bison standing there like nothing has happened, until it will actually fall over.

Interesting animals to say the least. Luckily for us they rarely attack people.

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"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill