Check your facts please

Re: On the Liberal gun ban

Just a note about the letter to editor concerning the Liberal gun ban. He states that Texas is the safest state in the U.S. because of their open carry gun policy. This could not be farther from the truth.
In 2019 there were 1490 murders in Texas, they have a population of 29 million and most were all gun related.

By comparison Canada had 675 murders and our population is 37 million. I've spent a fair amount of time in Texas, Florida, Arizona and many other states that have open carry and conceal policies. These States have many school and church shootings and are not safe. We were touring through El Paso not long before there was a mass shooting at a Wal Mart with a legally purchased AK47. Americans hide behind their second amendment which gives them the right to bear arms. We have no such constitutional right in Canada and in fact owning a gun in Canada is a privilege and not a right.

I've noticed many letters to the editor recently amplify far right movements with little information based on fact. If we are to give a megaphone to to the far right fringe then we should at least fact check. It's one thing to read the anti Trudeau ranting from the same people over and over again but it's another to read misinformation that tries to radicalize a movement based on fiction.

Howie Hewgill