# Don't Ask Any Questions In Kalamazoo! \[off-duty cop wishes he could carry a gun in Calgary\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 9, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996 "2012-08-09T19:57:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/81 "2012-08-11T05:10:25Z")

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That guy from Kalamazoo - what a maroon.

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**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/82 "2012-08-11T17:53:24Z")

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> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I _hope_ so. All those Canadian Cowboys. _Shudder._
> 
> 🙂

Man, we have some of the coolest cowboys. I mean, [this](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VeXeLsT7WQU/T4Qm35hJtQI/AAAAAAAABEQ/U6AEefl9Xn0/s1600/120407_carey-price-cowboy-up__ap.jpg)[guy](http://thereuschblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/price-rodeoII.jpg)is also [THIS GUY](http://thereuschblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/price-on-larose-nov-13.jpg) (the goalie!)

The fact that he’s also part Native American gives him the Western Canadian Sterotype Trifecta. 😛

I’ve been reading some of the tweets in response to this story: #nosehillgentlemen is probably one of the funniest hashtags I’ve seen in a while.

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/83 "2012-08-11T18:10:34Z")

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> [@RickJay](#):
>
> My best bud lives in the States and has never in his life owned a gun, nor has his wife, nor would it ever occur to them.

I’ve known Americans who DO carry guns, and even they would tell you that this guy from Kalamazoo acted like an idiot.

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**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/84 "2012-08-12T17:06:45Z")

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> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> I’m with the cop in the article. I do not like to go \*anywhere \*unarmed. I feel naked without my 9 mm on me.

[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PYwiwbgMusY/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGBogZSg1MA8=&rs=AOn4CLBIU7QPtaLutQLztiYT538gFBJ3nA "King Missile - Detachable Penis (uncensored)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYwiwbgMusY)

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/85 "2012-08-12T21:15:16Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> He said despite all the negative attention his letter has received — including at least one threatening phone call to his home — he doesn’t regret writing it.
> 
> “What concerned me is two young men just approached us and stopped us, stopping us by being in our path, and [began] talking to us without even being welcome to talk to us. They just took it upon themselves to yell at us.”
> 
> He said he should have the right to protect himself if things had escalated.

So while complaining about how Canada doesn’t have Second Amendment rights, Wawra is also complaining that Canada does have First Amendment rights.

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**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/86 "2012-08-12T21:30:05Z")

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During the early days of my career in the court system, carrying a gun was optional. A few of us did. I did, for a while. I think I was paranoid to some extent, but some colleagues said they were getting death threats from criminals we had to deal with. In the long run, I stopped doing it. I never liked the feeling I had while carrying around all that responsibility. It seemed glamorous and manly at first blush, but later it became a big anchor on my soul. It seemed to be telling me “You have to hide behind this thing to be seen in public.” And I well knew that if I ever drew it, I had to be fully prepared to take a life. It just was not something I really needed to do. There are jobs that call for it, no doubt, but mine in the end did not and I stopped carrying. I also eventually sold off my gun collection as well. I just felt that, by owning all these instruments of death, I was somehow darkening my life, dimming my view of reality and soiling my soul. What would I do now if I was ever confronted with a situation where a gun would come in handy? I don’t know…but I do know that all the other days, months and years spent without that shadow hanging over me, is worth taking the chance.

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**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/87 "2012-08-12T22:56:07Z")

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If Walt “thank(s) the Lord Jesus Christ” for them not having a gun, why’d he need his gun in the first place? 😃

Yeah, I’m with Canada on this one. When in Rome-- er, Calgary…

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**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/88 "2012-08-13T02:05:43Z")

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This cop is apparently too stupid to realize that nothing happened. I’m sure in his mind, he only got out of Canada safe and sound after a shootout and car chase. The fact that the 2 guys left him alone after he asked them to does not support his stupid assertion

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/89 "2012-08-13T02:17:59Z")

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I am relatively intelligent, but if I were in a different place and some fellow ran up to my Wife and asked “have you been to the stampede yet?” It would be a WTF moment. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/90 "2012-08-13T02:31:40Z")

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> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I am relatively intelligent, but if I were in a different place and some fellow ran up to my Wife and asked “have you been to the stampede yet?” It would be a WTF moment. 🙂

If you were walking through a park in Fayetteville on a Saturday morning in fall and someone came up to you and asked, “Do you have tickets yet?” would you be equally confused, or would you instantly know what was going on?

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/91 "2012-08-13T02:45:32Z")

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> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> If you were walking through a park in Fayetteville on a Saturday morning in fall and someone came up to you and asked, “Do you have tickets yet?” would you be equally confused, or would you instantly know what was going on?

I presume it would be football, but I would wonder why a total stranger was getting in my face. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/92 "2012-08-13T02:45:53Z")

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This morning, as I was going in to Wal-Mart, a guy came towards me.

He smiled. A little too much. Then he said, “Hello.”

So I shot him.

These punks have got to learn.

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**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/93 "2012-08-13T03:00:47Z")

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> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I am relatively intelligent, but if I were in a different place and some fellow ran up to my Wife and asked “have you been to the stampede yet?” It would be a WTF moment. 🙂

Trust me when I say that it is 100% impossible to be in this city during the Stampede and be ignorant that an event called the Stampede is taking place. it might be a non-sequitur in other places, but in this city at during those two weeks, it’d be like asking how the weather is.

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**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/94 "2012-08-13T03:27:41Z")

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Wasn’t the world’s largest rodeo going on in Calgary the same time Walt & wife were in Calgary? How could you not notice? I’m sure there’s some signs and news headlines about it. Seems like being in London this past week and someone stopping you to ask if you’ve been to the games yet.

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**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/95 "2012-08-13T03:43:15Z")

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> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> WTF is “the stampede”, ay?

Gay bar.

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/96 "2012-08-13T07:27:20Z")

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This guy was in _Calgary_.

He was approached while in Nose Hill Park–a piece of bald prairie, preserved in the middle of Calgary. No trees, no bushes–plenty of opportunity for people a quarter- or half-mile away to see that he was in trouble (if he was, which, given the nature of the park, he wasn`t).

I wonder how he reacted to the beggars on Calgary`s Stephen Avenue ("Hey, man, gimme some change, got any cigarettes, how `bout some change, c`mon, man, you can afford it, gimme a smoke at least, whaddaya mean you got no smokes or no change"). Much more confrontational than an innocent encounter in Nose Hill Park.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/97 "2012-08-13T12:54:44Z")

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> [@Spoons](#):
>
> This guy was in _Calgary_.

Sorry, please elaborate.

> [@Spoons](#):
>
> I wonder how he reacted to the beggars on Calgary`s Stephen Avenue ("Hey, man, gimme some change, got any cigarettes, how `bout some change, c`mon, man, you can afford it, gimme a smoke at least, whaddaya mean you got no smokes or no change").

You have beggars in Canada? 😕

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/98 "2012-08-13T13:50:07Z")

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Quite a few years ago, Alberta was giving bus tickets to it’s beggars for them to move to Ontario on the condition that they not return.

It’s just as well they stopped doing that, given that you never know when you’ll be decapitated and eaten on a bus by a Walmartian from Edmonton.

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**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/99 "2012-08-13T14:02:22Z")

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A policeman from Kalamazoo  
Hated hearing “See the Stampede, you!”  
He snapped, “Shut your mouth  
Or I’ll head back down south  
And get my gun, and shoot all of you!”

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**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-any-questions-in-kalamazoo-off-duty-cop-wishes-he-could-carry-a-gun-in-calgary/630996/100 "2012-08-13T14:08:05Z")

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Of course we have homeless and beggars in Canada. I’m curious as to why you thought we wouldn’t?

I agree - there is NO way this guy was in Calgary during the Stampede and had no idea what was going on. I mean, the entire city pretty much shuts down, it’s the headlines of the newspapers and TV news, the windows of all the downtown buildings are painted in Stampede theme, everyone is wearing cowboy hats and boots, there is a huge fair on one end of town that’s visible from half the city, and there are fireworks every night. There is NO WAY you can’t know Stampede is going on.

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