Gun laws in Canada have restricted the carry of handguns outside of the home for decades leaving residents to defend (or attack) with any available device that could be used as weapon.
Knives are even prohibited for individuals to carry if the intent of the carrier is for self-defense. Knives are only allowed if the intent of the owner is to use the blade as a tool.
In a bizarre attack in Truro, a hub of Nova Scotia, a fresh slice of pizza was converted to a weapon leading to facial injuries of a 22-year-old woman.
The victim, Paige Beaudry, pointed a line-jumper to the back of the store while waiting to place an order at The Pizza Market.
The 29-year-old assailant was not happy about being told to head to the back of the line and took a fresh-from-the-oven slice of pizza and smeared it in Paige’s face.
The pizza, which cooks at 500 degrees, burned the victim’s face immediately.
The assailant has been charged with “assault causing bodily harm.”
Given the intent of the assailant’s use of the pizza was to harm a victim, under the same intent-based guidelines as knives, the 29-year-old pizza pusher could be charged with “Assault with a Weapon” under Canadian law and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
Other items that have been used in assaults include a dessert spoon that was used to murder a British man in 2003; a stiletto heal that was used to stab a Houston man more than 10 times; and in Louisiana, a woman used her own prosthetic leg to beat her boyfriend to death . . . while balancing on one leg.
While firearms are convenient tools for defense and assault, the alternative is one-sided as few individuals will consider the use of spoons, pizza or prosthetic legs for defensive purposes while under attack.
Firearms even the playing field for both the victim and the criminal . . . assuming firearms are legal to carry.
Canadian legislators failed to comment on the question of whether they will require the registration of hot pizza in the next legislative session.
