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The article criticizes sociologist Neil Boyd's article on the subject of firearms homicide in Canada. The argument in Boyd's paper rests upon several unsupported claims. Boyd's knowledge of Canadian homicide statistics is faulty. The typical Canadian homicide victim is male, not female, as he states. As well, the typical homicide victim is not killed with a firearm; as two-thirds of all homicides involve other implements than firearms. Firearms may be useful for self-protection even if they are not fired. Clearly this would be so if a woman deterred a rapist simply by showing him her firearm and her resolve to use it if necessarily. Such an incident would probably not be brought to the attention of the police. In the case of the woman who used a firearm to deter a potential rapist, she has nothing to gain by going to the polite, and given the official attitude towards the defensive use of firearm, much to lose by doing so. Nevertheless, the article does not recommend that anyone buy a firearm for self-protection— that is a very personal decision.

In this paper, the organizational demands of the native policing environment are examined to analyze their effects on native policing arrangements and the constraints and linkages that govern innovation and reform at the levels of policy and program development. It is argued that, as environmental conditions vary and change, current methods of organizing and delivering native police services will become increasingly problematic. Some of the key principles and issues that underlie policing models are discussed and examined in the native context. It is concluded that a community-based approach to policing is a promising strategy that may uniquely serve the interests and requirements of particular native communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]