Lawnmower Boy

Not with that attitude. 
 

I would totally watch that.

^ What's with the off-topic chatter in the Lord of the Rings thread?

They did, but don't call them Shirley.

But three rights make a left.

11 Canadian PMs
 
St. Laurent, Diefenbaker, Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Turner, Mulroney, Campbell, Chretien, Martin, Harper, Justin Trudeau
 
Interesting fact, the Queen met Justin Trudeau as a child when his father Pierre Trudeau was in office!

16 Australian PMs, including one caretaker, but not double counting one who served twice.

Menzies, Holt, McEwen (caretaker), Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, (Rudd again), Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison, Albanese.

In France, he's a Sorcerer with Cheese.
 

To help us yanks grasp it, someone put it this way: "The queen reigned for 30% of US history."
 
Solace to her loved ones.

Cosplay done right. 
 

To that first point, population density isn't really a difference, considering that 80% of Canada's population lives within 100 miles of the American border. I live in the shadow of the fourth most populous city in North America, the core of an urbanized area of over six million. But, while we most definitely have a serious problem with poverty, homelessness, etc. it's true that our social safety net is in some ways more robust than yours.
 
OTOH I agree that the American mythology of rebellion, individualism, and violent conflict resolution, is probably a significant factor in the mindset of many Americans. But the historical record illustrates that wasn't always the case, and that said mythology has been promulgated by parties with a vested interest in promoting it, and the savvy to popularize it. I've always said Americans as a society are the greatest salesmen the world has ever seen. You can sell almost anything to almost anyone, even each other.

Okay, I don't want to escalate this debate, so I'll simply answer your questions, then I'm done.
 
Personally, I've never used a knife for anything more violent than carving a turkey. I do have some police friends, including an officer in a tactical unit. Among the things he told me, "A knife's a bad as a gun. It never jams, never runs out of ammo, and you don't need training to use it."
 
With respect, if you only look at numbers of casualties, without looking at the context of times, locations, and conditions, that's blowing smoke.
 
You protect the weak and disabled by building a society with enough respect for law and rights, and sufficient control of the means of violence, that incidents like the one we're talking about are very rare. I live in one.
 
(BTW just FYI, while per capita gun violence in Canada is a small fraction of that in the United States, police statistics say that most of the illegal hand guns used for crimes in Canada are smuggled in from the US. So, thanks for that.)

Well, I was speaking in the general sense comparing a US citizen to nearly every other country where gun violence happens rarely to never.  In a more specific sense - FYI, I am acquainted with 3 people who have been shot or shot at in the last 3 years.  Beyond that, do you have kids and/or close family that works in a school?  My wife's school has had 3 lockdowns, 1 with a confirmed active shooter in the last 2 years...urban school not inner city.  My daughter's school has had 4 gun threat warnings since May...2 in the same day.