HIV is only a level 2 bio-containment risk, because it is relatively easy to contain (not airborne, doesn't survive for long outside of an infected host). The big quarantine efforts are for things like Ebola, which were airborne, and thus spread very easily.

Not if you do it on 31 December. As long as you don't live in the US as of the first day of the year (and there are some requirements about how much time you don't spend in the US) you're not liable for taxes, that year.

Canada has nowhere near the population density of the United States. That's a rather large factor.

The evidence from, say, Japan, or Scandanavia, is that if you have an extremely homogenous population, the murder rate will be very low. It's not just about controlling the guns.

"Gun Show Loophole" is the soundbite, because there isn't enough time to give a thoughtful and well detailed explanation during the 30-minute news-hour that passes in the US now. We haven't had real news reporting since they started showing commercials during the news.

We've tried, but the Political Correctness groups key suing the people who do.

There are a lot of factors, and the direction of causality is not always so clear. For example, if I lived in an area where people tended to be shot, and moving out wasn't an option, I'd be more likely to arm myself. Is this a cyclical, compounding problem? Of course. But there also isn't an easy solution, especially in a country where the police aren't obligated to protect you.

So that it can act as a deterrent, just like those "Protected by ADT" signs that people with security systems (and even some that don't) put in their windows. The "Speak softly and carry a big stick" method works best when everyone knows you have the stick.

Yes, and those were the same militias that fought against and eventually threw out the British during the American Revolution. Many of the first amendments to the constitution were reactions against the abuses of the colonial British rulers (e.g., Quartering troops, searches and seizures) that they meant to prevent from happening again.

Calling the police is only useful if you have a reasonable expectation that the police will show up and help you. In the United States, that is not the case. Therefore, people who feel unsafe will find other ways to protect themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0

Yeah, this should be an interesting show-down. "Well, Tea Partiers, you have a choice; turn in your guns, or pony up for universal heath care, including comprehensive mental health care."

I don't think this episode in our history will end without some kind of change being made. Hopefully it's meaningful, and not (as a coworker mentioned) having to take off your shoes to enter a school (as we do to enter an airport).

It's also important to note that Canada's population is about 10% of the population of the US, and population densities are similarly much smaller. Population density is a huge indicator, if not cause, of crime rates.

For reference, I don't think it's "common" nutjobs that are flipping out and killing people. Based on the article above, this latest was perpetrated by someone with the foresight to destroy his hard disk before going to carry out his plan. "Nutjob" and "clever" are hardly mutually exclusive.

Elves. It's flying elves. Also reindeer. Although I suppose what the reindeer do while they're in the air is their own business.

They used to. But you weren't expecting that, were you? It's okay, no one does.

Also, in plenty of places, the local religious establishments take away people's rights for all sorts of reasons. You think they wouldn't do it where you live, if they could?