Raising the question: did we do this during Prohibition to Canada’s whisky distillers, when their products flooded into this country across both land and water borders? And if we didn’t sue, could there be a lesson in that about the need for nations to respect each others’ sovereignty?

Canada is looking into ways to sue U.S. gun manufacturers for the spread of illegal weapons into this country, the Toronto Star has learned….

The policy will also be seen as another shot by Prime Minister Paul Martin’s government across the bow of Canada-U.S. relations.

Government sources told the Star yesterday that Canada will be looking into “every legal option” to stem a tide of crimes involving weapons that make their way into this country illegally from the United States, whether they’re sold through the Internet or smuggled across the border.

That includes possible suits against U.S. manufacturers, launched either in the United States or in this country if the firm has assets here as well, the sources said. Though no precise estimates are available, Toronto police have said repeatedly that almost half the gun crimes committed in Canada involved illegal, U.S. weapons.

(Susan Delacourt and Les Whittington, Toronto Star, Oct. 22 (reg))

Filed under: Canada, guns