Reply #38: Well, I'm right behind you -

[dustbunnie]

although it would be in a spiritual sense for me. :)

Much of it IS cultural.

- Most people who require mental health care don't get it in Canada either. Especially if they live in some godforsaken, isolated area, or are indigent. It's a myth that the homeless and very poor, the mentally ill, always get the care they need in Canada. Much of that is because they just don't seek it out.

- Many of the immigrants to Canada are Asian or from the Middle East these days. Not really the kind of people who come from the "gun-totin' f*ck you up" kind of cultures. Much of Canada is homogeneous however... as soon as you leave the large urban centers.

- People do own guns in Canada, but there are rules as to how you may own them. Locked up, ammo separate, etc. That old adage "guns don't kill people, people do" works in Canada as well. Except they've finished it with the line "yes, which is why dumbass people shouldn't own guns."

- That being said, people are murdered of course, there are serial killers, wife killers, husband killers etc. There seems to be much less media coverage of the average murder, and inclimate weather/wide open space may have something to do with the stats as well.