American Wanting to Pull His Gun on Canadians Becomes Twitter Joke
Wawra’s calling the incident a “life-or-death encounter” and
suggesting Canadians and visitors should be carrying handguns set the
Twittersphere abuzz. Tweets with the hashtag #NoseHillGentlemen started
flying, including these:
- Steve Dangle Glynn: As a proud Canadian citizen, I’d like to shoot
the #NoseHillGentlemen… a smile, and then invite him to watch hockey in
my igloo. - Mike Morrison: Hey, I just met you and this is crazy but….*bang bang*#NoseHillGentlemen
- DJ Kelly: My boss saw me in the hall & asked how my project was
going. I speculate she did not have good intentions so I walked on. - Aaron Stayner: Fun Fact. Murders in 2010: Kalamazoo (Pop 74K) 14, Calgary (Pop 1.1M) 15.
- Steph Guthrie: Think about it: the #NoseHillGentlemen encounter
could’ve ended with two dead young men because of a psychotically
suspicious gun owner. - Joe Byer: The only creatures that need guns to protect themselves at Calgary stampede are wagon horses and baby cows.
Media weighed in with headlines like these:
- Google News: Canada ridicules unarmed US tourist’s fears
- Toronto Sun: Tweeters target gunless U.S. visitor
- Global Post: Nose Hill Gentlemen: gun-toting lowlifes or Canadian cowboys?
- Edmonton Journal: Paranoid Kalamazoo cop ridiculed over need to bear arms in Calgary Park
The two aggressive Canadians have not yet come forward so there is no verification of the report on Gawker that they were just handing out free tickets. However, the Stampede’s media relations manager told the Calgary Herald, “The fact of the matter is we have a much bigger publicity and marketing machine than two people wandering through a park.”
As the Tweets continued to roll in, some Canadians began to feel sorry for Wawra. In a letter to the Calgary Herald Garth Klatt wrote about Calgarians tendency “to engage strangers in a big of chit-chat.” He continued:
Perhaps when Wawra returns to Calgary, he
will have learned more about us and decide to ease up on his excessive
wariness, the way some of our out-of-province Canadian friends have
done. In the meantime, a few of us might want to get a grip on our
bigotry.
With only one side of the story coming forward to give an account, we
may never know just what happened in Nose Hill Park. What we do know is
that two young men are probably feeling very relieved Mr. Wawra was not
allowed to carry a gun while in Canada.
Sadly, Officer Wawra reminds me of a police officer I knew while
growing up in southern Idaho. He was full of fun and a great pal to his
children and those of us who were their friends. That gradually changed.
After years of dealing with society’s underbelly, he became hardened
and cynical. He saw danger everywhere.
Perhaps that has happened to the Kalamazoo police officer.
As for Americans and guns, Kenneth Blaha from Hudson, New Hampshire, said this in his letter to the Calgary Herald:
I write to assure the people of Calgary
and Alberta that not all Americans are paranoid gun toters. I had the
privilege of visiting Cold Lake on business last year and was made to
feel so at home by the fine people that I joined in wearing a poppy on
Remembrance Day.
Please don’t let one man’s frightened rant paint every-one in my country. Thank you for being such fine hosts during my stay.
Read More: http://www.care2.com/causes/american-wanting-to-pu...
I recently visited Calgary from Michigan. As a police officer for 20 years, it feels strange not to carry my off-duty hand-gun. Many would say I have no need to carry one in Canada.
Yet the police cannot protect everyone all the time. A man should be al-lowed to protect himself if the need arises. The need arose in a theatre in Aurora, Colo., as well as a college campus in Canada.
Recently, while out for a walk in Nose Hill Park, in broad daylight on a paved trail, two young men approached my wife and me. The men stepped in front of us, then said in a very aggressive tone: "Been to the Stampede yet?"
We ignored them. The two moved closer, repeating: "Hey, you been to the Stampede yet?"
I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, "Gentle-men, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye." They looked bewildered, and we then walked past them.
I speculate they did not have good intentions when they approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort, but rather concluded it was in their best interest to leave us alone.
Would we not expect a uniformed officer to pull his or her weapon to intercede in a life-or-deat...
I have been to Calgary at Stampede and there are many of those types on the streets. They are not aggressive at all. Just fun loving country boys. I am surprised he was only asked by one group.