Toronto
The Canadian government has decided to issue guns to the guards who patrol the country’s 3,145-mile border with the U.S., after two unarmed guards fled their posts, fearing a confrontation with a pair of murder suspects. That case caused an uproar back in January, when the suspects, from California, tried to reach a Canadian border crossing ahead of a police chase. The two guards at the crossing abandoned their post rather than face the fugitives with nothing but pepper spray and batons. The previous Canadian government, like those before it, resisted the guard union’s demand for guns. But this week, newly elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Conservative, announced a plan to phase in weapons training for the guards, so they can be armed. But implementation of the plan will take an estimated 10 years, in part because Canada has few firing ranges where the 4,400 guards can be trained.
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