The Real Victims of Gun Control

The Coalition for gun control quotes victims of gun violence usually in large urban centres as a reason for gun control. Canada is an under Policed society where there are not enough officers to deter or prevent crime!

Unfortunately over the last few years we have seen limited increases in funding to emergency services, Police, Fire, Ambulance. In metropolitan areas response time is still usually under 10 minutes, in rural Canada Police presence is a different story, for instance in Ontario if there is a major accident on the trans-Canada hwy it most likely means the OPP detachment in that jurisdiction is closed down while all officers attend and in many cases neighbouring detachments will be called for additional support making it more difficult to maintain response time in their coverage area. If Police are responding to a call in rural Canada chances are it will be 30 to 45 minutes minimum, to respond to any other call. Great news for those in need.

Rural Canadians including many suburbs of metropolitan areas suffer from the same threats and risks are most city people, unfortunately we also have natural threats to contend with ranging from sick, hungry, rabid wild animals. These animals can range in weight from a couple of pounds to over 600 pounds, They may attack in packs or alone. There is no comfort in hearing Police say they will be there in 20 to 30 minutes while you hear your wife or kids screaming while being attacked, safe storage of firearms hum, ok you drop the phone and try to unlock your storage get your gun and unlock your ammunition, try to load your gun and get back out to save your family 4 to 8 minutes after the attack started. Well if your lucky (I'm saying lucky very loosely on this) you might see what direction the bear is dragging the mauled body of one of your family into the bush!

The following is a list of fatal bear attacks in Canada, I have not included non-fatal attacks or attacks by other species at this time!

Having a firearm may have changed the outcome of any of the following, Long guns (Rifles) are good for distance and are essential if you are protecting others from a distance, but most likely would be of no use due to the limitations of magazine capacity under the current laws. If you are protecting yourself Rifles are useless once the attacker is too close, in these circumstances any person would need to carry a handgun!

Cecile Lavoie, 70, female May 30, 2008 Near La Sarre, Quebec After Lavoie didn't return to her cabin following a solo fishing outing, her husband went looking for her. He found a bear dragging her body into the woods.

Robin Kochorek, 31, female July 20, 2007 Panorama Mountain Resort, British Columbia Kochorek was reported missing after mountain biking. A black bear was found near her corpse the morning after her dissapearance. The bear was shot on site by The RCMP.

Jacqueline Perry, 30, female September 6, 2005 Black Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park, Ontario Perry was killed in a attack at their remote campsite. Her husband was seriously injured trying to protect her. Ministry of Forest staff shot and killed the bear near the area where the fatal attack occurred

Harvey Robinson, 69, male August 26, 2005 Selkirk, Manitoba Robinson was fatally mauled while picking plums north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Robinson's family were exploring the site with a RCMP officer later that day, and were also attacked. The officer shot and killed the bear

Merlyn Carter, 71, male June 14, 2005 270 kilometres southeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Carter, a pilot, was found dead in the main cabin of his fishing camp. Carter's son came to the cabin the day after the attack, and shot and killed the bear.

Maurice Malenfant, 77, male September 29, 2002 Saint-Zénon-du-Lac-Humqui, Quebec Malenfant was attacked in his campsite in the Gaspé region of Quebec.

Christopher Bayduza, 31, male September 1, 2002 near Fort Nelson, British Columbia After going for a walk behind a trailer, Bayduza was attacked at a remote oil rigging site in northeastern British Columbia.

Kyle Harry, 18, male June 3, 2001 25 km. east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Harry was attacked while with a a group at a rural campsite 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Mary Beth Miller, 24, female July 2, 2000 near Valcartier, Quebec Miller was attacked while on a biathalon training run in a wooded area on a military base. The bear was trapped and killed four days later

Robert Wagner, 48, male October 1, 2008 near Sundre, Alberta Wagner was reported missing after not returning from a hunting trip. His body was found less than 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) from his parked truck. An autopsy revealed that he had been killed by a grizzly bear, which was shot by wildlife officers

Don Peters, 51, male November 25, 2007 near Sundre, Alberta Peters' body was found 200 metres (660 ft) from his parked truck. He was on a hunting trip. An autopsy confirmed that he died due to a grizzly bear attack. The bear that attacked Peters was captured and killed the following April

Jean-Francois Pagé, 28, male April 28, 2006 near Ross River, Yukon Pagé was mauled while staking mineral claims. He unknowingly walked right past a bear den containing a sow and two cubs

Arthur Louie, 60, male September 20, 2005 near The Bowron River, British Columbia A female and two cubs attacked Louie on a remote forestry road. He was walking back to his gold mining camp after his car broke down.

Isabelle Dube, 35, female June 5, 2005 Canmore, Alberta Dube was killed while jogging with two friends on the Bench Trail. After an initial attack, Dube climbed a tree while her friends sought help. The bear brought Dube down from the tree and mauled her. A few days beforehand, the bear had been relocated from Canmore to Banff National Park.

Raymond Kitchen, 56, male, Patti McConnell, 37, female August 17, 1997 Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park, British Columbia McConnell died from injuries while defending herself and her two children from a black bear attack on a boardwalk to the hot springs. Kitchen heard the attack in progress, and was killed while attempting to rescue. McConnell's daughter and a 20-year-old man were also injured. The bear was shot while standing over the victims.

Sevend Satre, 53, male 01996-06-14June 14, 1996 near Tatlayoko Lake, British Columbia Satre was killed while checking fencelines near the central British Columbia community of Tatlayoko Lake, British Columbia.

Sebastien Lauzier, 20, male June 14, 1992 near Cochrane, Ontario Lauzier was attacked while taking soil samples.

Raymond Jakubauskas, 32, male, Carola Frehe, 48, female October 11, 1991 Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, While they were setting up camp on Bates Island, a black bear broke both of their necks. The bear then dragged their bodies into the woods and consumed the remains. When police arrived five days later, the bear was guarding the bodies. A park naturalist called the attack "right off the scale of normal bear behavior".

James Waddell, 12, male May 26, 1991 Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, In the Marten River Campground, Waddel was dragged from a tent during the night and killed.

George Evanoff, 65, male October 24, 1998 near Prince George, British Columbia Evanoff was hiking on the Bearpaw Ridge, 45 miles northeast of Prince George, British Columbia. He encountered a grizzly feeding on a moose kill about a half-mile from his cabin.

Christopher Kress, 40, male, August 22, 1998, near Beaver Mines, Alberta Kress was killed by a grizzly bear on while fishing on the South Castle River, near the Beaver Mines campground in Alberta

Christine Courtney, 32, female, July 5, 1996, Kluane National Park Courtney was killed while hiking. Her husband was also attacked but survived. Park wardens killed the bear

Shane Fumerton, 32, male, Bill Caspell, 40, male, October 9, 1995 near Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia They were killed while securing an elk in the vicinity of Mount Soderhome, in southeastern British Columbia.

Trevor Percy-Lancaster, 40, male, September 15, 1992 Jasper National Park Percy-Lancaster and his wife were setting up camp in an isolated area of the Tonquin Valley. They surprised a bear, and began running away. The bear initially caught Percy-Lancaster's wife, and then he distracted the bear, which turned on him.

Hattie Amitnak, 64, female, July 9, 1999 near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut Amitnak was mauled after trying to distract a bear that attacked and injured two other people. She was later awarded a posthumous medal of bravery by then-Governor-General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson

David Anderson, 12, male July 6, 1983 La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve, Quebec Anderson was grabbed from his tent while camping as part of a group fishing trip. His body was found 100 feet (30 m) from the tent.

Melvin Rudd, 55, male May 27, 1983 near Nipawin Provincial Park, Saskatchewan Rudd was killed while fishing in central Saskatchewan.

Clifford David Starblanket, 26, male May 21, 1983 near Canwood, Saskatchewan Starblanket, a trapper living in the forest, suffered an attack to his throat and head.

Lee Randal Morris, 44, male, Carol Marshall, 24, female August 14, 1980 near Zama City, Alberta Morris and Marshall were killed by the same bear in separate attacks over a span of two hours. They were working at a remote oil drilling camp

Ernest Cohoe, 38, male August 24, 1980 While fishing with a friend just north of Banff, Alberta, bears charged and bit off part of Cohoe's face. He died a week later as a result of the injuries.

Thomas Mutanen, 46, male November 29, 1983 Churchill, Manitoba Mutanen was attacked and dragged on a street in Churchill. The bear was part of an annual migration to Hudson Bay. Due to a lack of ice on the bay, the bear wandered into the town.

Lynn Orser, 30, female July 2, 1978 Aurora, Ontario A bear trained to wrestle humans entered its owners home and attacked the owner's friend, Orser in her bedroom

George Halfkenny, 16, Mark Halfkenny, 12, Billy Rhindress, 15 (all male) May 13, 1978 Algonquin Provincial Park The three boys were stalked and killed while fishing near Radiant Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park. This was the first fatal bear attack in the park in eighty years.

Monte Adams,?, Male 1979 Southern Alberta While hunting alone for sheep in the mountains of Southern Alberta, Adams was mauled by a grizzly bear.

Barbara Chapman, 24, female July 24, 1976 Glacier National Park While hiking with a friend in British Columbia's Glacier National Park, Chapman rounded a bend to find a grizzly bear charging. The bear first attacked Chapman's friend, who initially resisted, but left him alone after he played dead. The bear then attacked Chapman, who fought back and was quickly killed. Chapman's friend sustained serious injuries, but was able to hike out for help. The grizzly bear that attacked and her three cubs were soon found and killed

Wilf Etherington, 51, male September 25, 1973 Banff National Park Etherington, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, and a photographer were helping with the relocation of a troublesome grizzly bear in Banff National Park. The bear had been recently trapped and sedated. When the two men approached the bear, it charged and attacked Etherington

Harvey Cardinal, 40, male January 15, 1970 near Fort St. John, British Columbia Cardinal was attacked and partially eaten while hunting near the Doig River. The bear had a gum infection, and was shot and killed

Barbara Coates, 7, female August 12, 1958 Jasper National Park While Coates was picking berries outside of her family's Sunwapta Falls cottage, a black bear appeared. Coates ran to the cottage, but the bear chased and mauled her.