Must be how they handle things in the West.

This should increase tourism, eh?

Border officers to be equipped with guns
Canadian Press
SURREY, B.C. — Canadian border guards will be armed starting in September of 2007 but it will take 10 years to fully implement the plan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
Mr Harper announced at a border crossing south of Vancouver that the federal government will have at least 150 officers with' sidearms deployed by the end of March 2008.

He also reiterated a $101 million promise from the federal budget to hire 400 additional officers. They will be used, among other things, to double up on Canada-U.S. border crossings that only have a single officer on duty.

"We're going to take action and get things done," Mr Harper said at the Pacific Highway border crossing.
He said the announcement is part of the government's effort to "tackle crime and protect and Canadians' way of life."

Canada has about 5,000 border guards who have been demanding to be armed to help them deal with cross-border criminal activity.
Officers left their posts in British Columbia earlier this year when they were told that two murder suspects from California were headed their way. The men were apprehended by armed U.S. law enforcement officers.

After March 2008, Mr. Harper said officers will be armed at a rate of 500 to 600 per year over the next decade.

The Prime Minister conceded there's also a lack of up-to-date computer equipment at some border points and said the government is concerned "because our officers have been underequipped."
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Good gravy.