An exhibitor at the annual Olds Gun & Antique Show says the same thing as U.S. President Donald Trump and the NRA — that recent mass shootings in the U.S. were the fault of "mentally ill people," not the guns they fired.
Tyson Colleton of Caroline collects, refurbishes and sells guns and swords. He also served for years in the Canadian military reserves.
He was one of about 200 people who displayed their wares during the show, held Aug. 10-11 at the Big Rack Rentals Cow Palace Event Centre.
One of the guns he had on display looks like what some refer to as an assault weapon. Colleton, like many gun enthusiasts, doesn't like that term. He calls it a lightened-up semi-automatic rifle.
"They think it's the gun, not the mentally handicapped -- mentally disturbed person behind it," he said during an interview with the Albertan. "It's mentally disturbed people and because there's a lack of health care, there's a lack of mental health care (in the U.S.)."
Colleton said that's a problem in Canada too, but not to the same extent because he said our health-care system is better. However he said we in Canada also lack awareness about the need for better mental health care.
There's a strong push in cities like Toronto which have experienced increasing gun violence, to ban guns.
Colleton said that's not the answer.
He noted that in October 2014, a man ran over a couple of other men in a deliberate attack in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 35 kilometres outside Montreal.
"They didn't outlaw the vehicles. They didn't point their finger at the vehicle and say, 'well we can't have those, they can kill too many people,'" Colleton said.
Also in 2014, 10 men armed with knives attacked and injured 29 people at a train station in China.
"You know what I mean? The one saying, God didn't blame the stone for killing Abel, he blamed Cain," he said. "There's a potential for violence in any situation when someone is mentally unstable.
"People will find the tools. You can beat someone with a baseball bat, a hockey stick, and still be successful in doing major damage. You don't blame the tool, you start looking for the root cause," Colleton said.
"(It's) a very stressful life that most of us live, compared to our grandfathers and fathers," he added.
"You're always on your phone, you're always queued up, you're always looking for something, you're always -- you know -- being asked something. Stress gets to you and some people just can't handle it."
Colleton currently works as a care aide. He said he and his wife are considering becoming counsellors to help people cope with the stresses of life.
