Close Reading

Tab berrr knack!\nShort for Tabernacle, it's a common term used in frustration in Quebec.\nIt insults the Catholic church, yet I found most of the French speaking people that I spoke to and asked about this were actually Catholic. It puzzled me. Like being frustrated and insulting their own beliefs. \nNo, sorry, I am happy to live in Canada and visit my friends and family there. \nYou have so many fabulous things to be proud of as an American. I have seen most of the states and would love to do it over again. I have met many, many wonderful and warm decent people there.\nBUT irresponsible gun ownership, mass shooting increasing to the point that other countries are recommending that people not visit the US!!A country divided politically and violently by ignorance of the minority, and allowing people to lose their houses when they lose their health? And women dying from poor pregnancy outcomes although predicted by their doctors....And the gay right thing, and school curriculum foolishness going on in Florida? I'm glad I visited Florida so many times before that craziness. Yey more people keep moving there. 31 million now!Why? I hate the heat an hour and a half above the border! And hurricanes! And massive tornadoes. And Malaria now!\nCome up to Canada. Bring your family too. It's safer. Less people equals less danger.\n\nKeep on keeping on! ❤

While kids getting shot is not a daily occurrence, it’s very close to a weekly one.\n2022 there were 51 shootings that resulted in injury or death.\n100 injuries, 40 deaths.\nThat does not even include active shooter incidents where no one was injured.

As a comedian I can tell you we literally have everything that you said you have in the United States so you're not exactly giving any incentives for any of us to want to go there all I see is nothing but mass shootings murder drugs and crazy insane presidents so no thanks I'm not going.

I do not understand this attitude...they are not shooting near me and I have healthcare from my work? So? Fu-k the rest of the population??? Nobody seems to care as long as it's not there child, getting gunned down??? How do you think we got everything we have here??? We tould the government! And we staid home from work, and we protested in front of the palement and we only woted fore what we wanted!!! Women are respected and we have more women who has a PhD then men! Oh! A Danish old woman who dos not understand how you can care so little about you fellow U.S. citizens??!!

Being strategic about where you live?!?! pick a small town… You mean be white and live in a small WHITE town? because Uvalde was small town that was mostly Latino they had to use DNA tests to identify the bodies ?\n\nAmericans don’t worry about school shootings. Seriously?!?! What planet do you live on??

As a Brit who had the opportunity to move family to America 25 years ago, I'm so relieved I didn't take up the offer. Shite health care, school and mass shootings, kids wearing bullet proof backpacks, government interference in women's reproductive rights, government by religious approval, schoolboards dismissing science, NRA stranglehold of public safety - in short NOT A CHANCE. Oh, did I forget to mention the Supreme Court being totally political l, that's despicable.

No, no and no! It's not the same, other places - we have free education - free healthcare - strict gun laws, you have to get a special and specific permit and have a special gun safe! The police is here to help us, they do not shoot at people, no matter there color. We have a law, that guaranties an affordable rent for everybody! Yes I am a Dane in Denmark

If you haven't personally been affected by a school shooting, be grateful .... but your town could be next!

Also, total no. I love spending weekends in Boston, it's a great city with a good mix of sport and culture. I know some urban centers are more liberal, but as many mentioned I cannot live in a place that gives so much importance to guns, religion, moral conservatism and Marjorie Taylor Green. We do have nut jobs in Canadian politic, but nothing remotely close. Also, I did find an article from May 26, 2023 that said there were 200 mass shootings across the US so far this year. I also hate the culture war in the US where everything become political (like LGBT rights, climate change or even biking). Worst part is that I'm considered conservative in Canada. I understand that there are nice people everywhere, even in the bible belt, and I would enjoy sharing a BBQ with them, but do I really want to raise children around people that believe that the Bible is more important than human rights and women freedom of choice with their body?

Just to touch briefly on the guns subject. Canada has quite a lot of guns relatively. Other than the United States, Canada has the highest guns per capita in the OECD. However, gun licensing, regulation and distribution along with various policies and cultural dynamics help in reducing mass shootings and school shootings.\nIn fact , Canada has only ever seen about a dozen school shootings in the last 50 years. Just to put that into perspective if a Canadian student were to attend an American school for a couple months, they are more likely to have a school shooting in those couple months than their entire K-12 education in Canada. I think that's why a lot of Canadians were mentioning their childs safety.

My family has been trying to get me to move to the US for the last 40 years. Sorry but no way! I prefer to live the life of freedom that americans like to think they have but really have no clue what freedom really is. Being able to shoot a gun and wear the flag as underwear is definitely not it!!!!

As a Canadian. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how you read that line about that woman who didn't like her woman rights being actively stripped from herself and did NOT comment a word on that. And you completely jumped over the other comment saying she didn't want to be forced to gestate a foetus.\n\nWhat I think about that is Pro-life movement should shut the hell up, live and let live. If you want to rise like 8+ kids because you like unprotected sex with you other half and some of em require medical or special attention and you end up living for 1 of the flock rather than with your family, that is not a choice anyone should be able to force down anyone else's throat.\n\nIt's utterly disgusting then to have to face the judgement of people you love because an abortion had to be proceeded.\n\nToo many people are trying to enthrust their ideology onto other people's lives over which they shouldn't.\n\nAnd yea the gun culture where everyone has access to buy a gun from a normal store and its legal and then you litterally have the firepower to shoot the cashier in the face is nonsense to me. School shootings but also being shot by an afraid fella who carriedls a gun.\n\nI'd want to go get some vacations in the US but I wouldn't be safe for my 4 kids, not for a second.

Hey Tyler! Regarding school shootings, I'm sure part of the reason the immediacy of the issue is not evident to you is that they're not as widely reported on when there are no or few casualties.\n\nStill, as Wiki will show you, to this day in 2023, there is on average more than 1 school shooting a week in the US.\n\nhttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States_(2000%E2%80%93present)

you Americans must be really desentizied to your gun culture, read your daily news....hardly a day goes by without a mass shooting...of course other countries see and note this.

No, I agree with batshit crazy people! It’s all we see in the news in Canada. And when you mention there’s a lot of religion in the States, what you really mean is there’s only Christianity that dominates the country. In saying that, there’s less social reform in a Christian country than in a diverse country (Canada)? And history in the United States only covers U.S. history lol. You’re mental health help is almost nonexistent for the most needy, particularly those white boys who shoot up a school where bad things happened to them. People need to Pay More Taxes to support their families and communities!! Why are American people so afraid to help their communities, instead of just buying stuff for themselves?

um more mass shooting than any other country, yeah i m staying here

I am appalled by your comment Tyler that because you live in a small town you are not affected by school shootings!! Right there this comment shows the lack of empathy and how desensitized you are towards your fellow Americans. The US is the country of me, myself and I. Basically if you’re not part of my community, I don’t care!!

Omg.. I am shocked at how shocked Tyler is about people's concerns about school shootings? . I listen to a lot of American radio and media and I hear frequently a lot of Americans talking about how this day and age how sad it is that they have to worry about their kids going to school. Tthe areas that this happens in or that parents are worrying has become more and more not just in certain States and I'm pretty sure I hear of like a mass shooting period in the United States is at least a couple times a month. \nThere's been so many school shootings I can't even keep up with all of them ..

As of June 15th 2023.....\n\n23 School shootings with injuries or deaths\n34 People killed or injured in a school shooting\n13 People killed\n9 Students or other children killed\n4 School employees or other adults killed\n21 People injured.

As a Canadian……….not a chance in ……..! I don’t have to pay medical insurance. US laws on Women’s right being stripped away. Gun violence. Children are being trained on what to do in school if there’s a shooting. The stress level on kids must be high.

The worst thing about America,s school shootings is the resistance to fix it. Republicans are genocidal

From what I’ve seen the school shootings haven’t happened in big cities. Plus your saying you can live among like-minded people, that’s exactly what Canadians don’t want

As a Canadian, I won’t even travel in the US let alone move there. Why? One big reason is the daily mass shootings and the ridiculous number of guns in the US. Plus, your health care system. Letting an insurance company decide which treatment I should get? Going bankrupt due to a serious illness? No thanks! Almost 10 years ago now my husband and I each had serious health issues that required hospital stays. We got excellent care and it didn’t cost us a penny more than what we’ve paid in taxes. I’m sticking with the true North strong and free.

With Schools and school shootings. My impression is that drills on what to do when there is a shooter is now a normal aspect of all schools in the US. This is how all kids are impacted by gun violence, it is robbing kids of their innocence way too early.

Suggests moving to a small town, clearly forgot about the Uvalde TX mass school shooting. There are more mass shootings than days in the year, every year. I left the US and would unalive myself if I ever had to go back.

Shoot them all

There have been 386 school shootings since Columbine. As of May 30th 2023 there have been 263 mass shootings. These facts alone would make me not want to move to the U.S.

Trump, mass shootings, republican politicians and their supporters, floods, fires, climate change deniers, religious nut jobs, healthcare costs, poor education system, legal costs, racism……I could go on….Not a chance in hell would I move to the US. I have even stopped visiting.

Products are so much cheaper and the overall selection is mind blowing compared to our little country that has a similar population size to the state of California.\nBut no, not a flipping chance based solely on your lack of Universal Healthcare... and the guns and mass shootings. I haven't been down there in over 30 years, might never go again.

As a Canadian, I and many of my fellows tend to see the US in several major issues, mostly concerning:\n\n- great innovative spirit and tech (pro)\n- crazy/insane gun access (BIG con)\n- school shootings (child safety - BIG)\n- Precarious healthcare access (BIG)\n- employer culture that thrives by abusing employees (BIG)\n- child labour to prop up a cheap-price economy (BIG)\n- women's rights (BIG)\n- political extremism, lobbies, and anti-democratic governance (the Electoral College is garbage, and the lobbyist-pandering and jerrymandering is nightmare fuel).\n\nI am sure most Americans are decent people, but their country seems to run so poorly, indifferent to their wellbeing, and itd economy is built on the suffering and abuse of the most vulnerable and desperate (wage theft, unethicalemployment practices, little real social support when things go wrong).

I've traveled and worked in many parts of the USA. In most cases, I've found people to be more friendly, helpful and outgoing than Canadians because we tend to be more reserved.\n\nThe exceptions are when Americans feel afraid or threatened for some reason. Then things get really scary very quickly. The gun culture is one reason for this. At a coffee break in Houston my coworkers started talking about guns because one of them had been held up at gunpoint. His car was in the shop to repair a bullet hole in his front fender. This triggered talk about where people kept their guns at home, in their cars and on their persons. A small pile of 3 handguns ended up on the table while we talked, two of them from women's purses. All but one of the people had never used their guns except at a shooting range. The exception blew out a neighbor's over-loud outdoor speakers with a shotgun. He felt this was justified because he paid his shocked neighbor double the destroyed equipment's value in cash. Most of the Texans didn't agree with him but understood his rationale.\n\nI can handle a rifle and shotgun. Many Canadians hunt, but I can't think of a place in Canada where I could have had this conversation.

Not on my life would I move to the US. And I literally mean my life. Your country has gone bat shit crazy. And there are mass shootings every other day. More guns than people absolutely insane.

Food prices are cheaper in the States, but other than that no I would never consider moving there. There are too many reasons not to, and not enough reasons to. ?\n\n19:44 \nConsidering that there have been over 385 school shootings since the beginning of this year alone, I can absolutely understand where the parents are coming from! You have to understand that we are 167 days into the new year and there have been more than twice that many school shootings! ?

The school shooting thing is HUGE. From 2009 to 2018 the US had 288 school shootings. In the same time Canada has had only 2! Like you said any number of shootings in schools is unacceptable, but that number is just insane to us. That’s an average of 32 shootings PER YEAR and not even counting the number of deaths.

How are you not sensitive to this ??!!….There have been 23 school shootings this year that resulted in injuries or deaths, according to an Education Week analysis. There have been 167 such shootings since 2018. There were 51 school shootings with injuries or deaths last year, the most in a single year since Education Week began tracking such incidents in 2018. There were 35 in 2021, 10 in 2020, and 24 each in 2019 and 2018.

US has had 23 school shootings in this year alone. Maybe you and your friends should think about it a little more often.

You really are desensitized ? How is that you’re not talking about all the mass shoots that take place EVERY SINGLE MONTH. Schools, shopping centres, nightclubs…I have 2 sisters who live in the states and we don’t talk about the politics. Sore topic.

In 2023 alone, mass shootings happened in Hampton, GA (pop. 8300), Munhall, PA (pop. 10,700), Bladensberg, MD (pop. 9600), Layhill, MD (pop. 9764), Wadesboro, NC (pop. 5000) and more. No, you can't strategically choose your city or town to avoid gun violence. And since 2018 there have been 167 school shootings in the US. That's 33 a year. Canadians just aren't desensitized to it.

As a Canadian. Not a snowball's chance in hell. There is nowhere in the USA that Canada doesn't already have. Oh wait, we have FREE healthcare for starters. I don't need to worried about being shot walking down the street in a major city or having my 1st of 4th amendment rights violated by organizations like the ATF or screwball cops who have no clue what the Constitutionally protected rights of your own citizens are (and coming from a Canadian, that alone speaks volumes).\n\nAlso, if your schools need metal detector checkpoints to enter the school, then why would any sane person send their kids to a place where they have to be searched to obtain their education safely?\n\nThe US gun culture makes what should be safe places, completely unsafe to begin with because you never know when that shy easy going person will snap and start shooting people. \n\n\nNope.

It is interesting that you don't worry about, or have conversations about, children's safety... when you have more mass shootings per year than there are days ? I feel like I would talk about that a lot if I was there!

School shootings do affect you even if you are not aware. It is called vicarious trauma and has long-term negative effects.

Nope!\n\nI wouldn’t even cross the border now with all the guns. Radical religion that seems to infiltrate American Politics is frightening - abortion is illegal yet everyone has a gun solely to shoot likely kill another human - makes absolutely no sense.\n\nBottom line - it’s not safe - move to a small town in the US - most can’t because the work isn’t in small town America - sorry!

Small quiet town to avoid school shootings. What is the population in Sandy Hook?

We as Canadians are not concerned there will be a mass shooting here, just the idea that it is not uncommon, you made a comment that where you live it’s not a concern but it is sadly more likely than anywhere in Canada. I have thought about moving to the US but the benefits are to little, the political divide is to large (based on media). I visit regularly and have seen a concerning trend where the country is getting more divisive.

My son and his family are going back to Disney in Florida this summer, I don’t even want them to do that with the political environment right now, as well as all the mass shootings

And you were saying about the school shootings I think you guys are so use to guns and school shootings you don’t react like we do in Canada where hardly any weapons are legal so therefore not as much school shootings. Kids shouldn’t be afraid to go to school

It is to scary with all the mass shootings and insanity of the political goings on in the government with so much corruption. Nobody cares about hollywood, disney and all the woke crap you have in sports. I have travelled there often and found the everyday american people very friendly but won't be visiting anymore as I just don't feel safe.

I was asked this recently by someone who thought I might answer differently... She was quite disappointed.\nYou know how many mass shootings have occurred in Canada? 11. Not this week, not this year... TOTAL! Aside from the slaughter of Native people... but that was a whole other thing.\n\nI love to visit... I'm not far from the border... But I love to come home.

Those people who have kids should not ust be afraid of violence and school shooting. They should also be concerned with the policing of the educational curriculum by religious fanatics as well as the poorer quality of education.

For all the amazing things the US has to offer, right now we don't even want to visit there, let alone move there. We've talked about it a lot, but nope. In Canada, generally speaking (although there are exceptions to every rule) we have no idea what political leaning our neighbors favor. Political campaigns last no more than 51 days; they do not start the day after the last election and go on for years. This way, elected officials actually do some work instead of campaigning. Right now, the politics in the US, as well as the judiciary, are literally insane. Gun violence in the US is insane, as is the attitude towards guns. It shouldn't take a shooting that affects you personally to make you care about it, and it's not just at schools. The US has had 28 mass killings, with 140 victims, in 6 months... but the problem is that no one down there cares about that enough to stop it, or even discuss ways to stop it. The politics is so sold out to corporations that what is good for the people just doesn't matter. It is capitalism run amok. Environmental protections? They are an inconvenience, and most of them were rolled back a few years ago under the presidency of He Who Must Not Be Named. So politics, elections, shootings... but wait. There's more. I have a wonderful friend in the US who has amazing health care, and yet when he got cancer, he was screwed. We do pay a health care premium up here, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to what people in the US pay for private insurance. Yes, you have the best hospitals in the world, but it doesn't matter if you can't afford to walk in the door. Now dump the intolerance -- racism, homophobia, religious zealots, misogyny (yes, I am talking women's rights, equal pay, access to health care, etc) -- throw in the crazies with guns, and now ask the question again. I absolutely know that Canada is not perfect, and that the tolerances and attitudes towards all these subjects differs from region to region, but overall we are a country that tries to respect the rights and needs of others, that has empathy for others, that wants to help others, and that is a pretty firm foundation to make us want to stay here. (please don't interpret this as all Americans and all areas of the US have no respect etc... but the predominant issues of health care, politics, religion, corporate greed, and violence, now all supported by a bat-crap crazy SCOTUS, sadly spills and taints it all. I know there are amazing, generous, kind people all over the US, but I don't know where the crazies are or where they might pop up).