OPINION: America’s Gun Fixation Is Tourism Industry’s Biggest Threat

May 27, 2022 Bruce Parkinson

I was crossing the U.S. border to a hockey tournament in Niagara Falls, NY. My friend, a senior police officer in a small Ontario city, was at the wheel, our sons in the back seat. 

When the U.S. border guard learned my friend was a cop, he asked “Are you carrying?” “No,” my friend replied, “I have no need for a gun outside of my work.” 

The border guard was shocked: “I take my gun to the chiropractor,” he said. My friend responded: “I like my chiropractor.”

It was funny, but it wasn’t.

For many Americans, the right to gun ownership is an emblem of freedom. For many Canadians, the confidence that we don’t need lethal weapons to feel safe in our homes and daily lives is an equally powerful mark of our liberty.

The proliferation of guns in the United States is a sickness. Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently tweeted: “I’m EMBARASSED. Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let’s pick up the pace Texans.”

Yesterday, an 18-year-old gunman in Abbott’s state slaughtered 19 elementary school children, a teacher and his own grandmother, before being shot to death himself. So far this year there have been 27 school shootings in the U.S., with 140 dead. There have been over 200 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2022, defined as one that injures or kills four or more people. That’s more than one a day.

In 2020 gun violence became the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. For over 60 years, car accidents were the leading cause of premature death for young people. Car accidents are now number two, drug overdoses number three.

These numbers are beyond shocking. What’s even more distressing is the complete lack of political will to tackle the issue in a divided nation.

As we at TravelPulse Canada prepare to attend IPW, the largest tourism showcase for U.S. destinations, we wonder how – or if – this issue will be addressed. But it must be. 

There’s no getting around it — gun violence and racial and political division are growing deterrents for Canadians and other international travellers to visit one of the world’s great destinations.

We have no desire to cast stones, lecture on morality or kick a destination when it is down. We love exploring the United States. We love to meet its people, hear its music, eat its food and learn about its diverse culture.

But for many Canadians, real freedom is about living in a civil, tolerant society where gun violence is a miniscule threat. The same goes for when we travel. We want to explore, enjoy, interact and return home safely. We share those desires with the majority of international travellers, who come from places where gun ownership is highly restricted. 

The fact is that most of the world sees America’s unfettered gun laws as bizarre and disturbing. And a growing number are literally afraid of travelling to places where the guy sitting beside them at the bar may have a gun on his hip – and is fully within his rights to do so.

Tourism is a huge industry in the U.S. and a major contributor to the economy. And the business is literally being held at gunpoint by a distorted vision of ‘freedom.’ If that doesn’t change, the prospects for future growth will be significantly diminished.

About the Author