As a practical matter, self-defense (or self-defence, as they spell it up North) is not allowed in Canada. Especially not with a gun. In fact in Canada, as in the other British Commonwealth countries, “self-defense” is not considered a legitimate reason for being issued a gun permit.

“If the public are wondering can you run out of your house and [fire a handgun at an intruder], the bottom line is, according to the laws of Canada, no, you can’t,” said Constable Nilan Dave of the Niagara Regional Police Service, which charged Mr. Thomson. “That’s why the courts are there, to give a person an opportunity to explain their actions.”

Here is a case from the recent past, where a man was charged with “careless use of a firearm” and had all his guns confiscated by the police for shooting a revolver at masked men who were fire-bombing his home. Fortunately he was acquitted two years later, so there is still some justice in Canada. However there is no mention of just how much it cost Ian Thomson to defend himself in court against this trumped-up, fallacious charge. Not to mention all the stress he endured for two years wondering if he’d end up going to jail just for trying to keep his hooligan neighbors from burning his house down, and him and his dogs with in it.

In Canada handguns are “restricted weapons”. You can apply for a permit to own one if you belong to a gun club. The only place you can use your handgun is at an established shooting range. No hunting with it, no shooting at beer cans in the back forty behind the house, no carrying one for protection against bears. At home it must be kept unloaded and locked in a safe. Ammunition must be stored separately. The police can enter your home at any time without a warrant to ensure that your gun is secure. The police can also seize your gun(s) without a warrant or judgement if they have any suspicion that it might be used in an act of violence. Naturally if you are American and try to bring a handgun, or even a long gun now, into Canada without authorization from the Canadian Government, the gun will be seized by Canadian customs and border security and you will go to jail. Nevertheless Canadian gang bangers seem to have little trouble acquiring handguns for use in their inter-gang squabbles. A Glock pistol that you can by in most U.S. states for $500 USD will sell for $2000 USD on the streets of Toronto. Despite this high markup the Canadian drug gangs have plenty of cash flow for such expenditures. The Canadian government is, of course, very concerned about the threat posed by ordinary, law-abiding white people who own guns.

As American self-defense experts like Massad Ayoob point out, if you find yourself in the same position as Mr. Thomson, living next store to “that guy”, the nasty, belligerent neighbor who insists on causing trouble for you, it’s a good idea to document your disputes with him as early in the relationship as possible. Report him to the police whenever he makes threats of violence or vandalizes your property. This will establish you as the good guy and your nasty neighbor as the bad-guy/ aggressor in the eyes of the authorities. Otherwise if you let it go because you "don’t want to cause trouble” by involving the police, when the situation does finally comes to blows, or gunshots, the police will tend to look at the situation as a mutual affray between quarreling neighbors who each kept the ball rolling and deal with it accordingly (i.e. one guy goes to the hospital/morgue, the other guy goes to jail). The authorities will tend to see it as a “Hatfield’s and McCoy’s” type feud where both parties are to blame, rather than a case where a peaceful person was forced to defend himself against a violent psychopath. If you let it go that far without documentation of the ongoing conflict it will make that much harder to defend your actions when you are forced to act in your own defense and will ensure that you’ll end up spending lots of money defending yourself in court.

Keep in mind that American Leftists are very much enamored with the way their fellow travelers on the road to social justice up in Canada are able to run their country.

Man faces jail after protecting home from masked attackers

Tamsin McMahon

National Post | | January 20, 2011 9:20 PM ET

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Peter J. Thompson/National Post Ian Thomson’s home in Port Colborne, Ont., was firebombed in August. He has been charged with careless use of a firearm in connection with the incident.