This is John Batchelor.

Conversation with my colleague Conrad Black about the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania,

the near catastrophe of Donald Trump and the tragedy of the loss of one life and the wounding of others.

I ask Conrad how the Canadians view these violent incidents throughout history, but especially now.

And his answer is complex and it involves Canadian history.

Here is Conrad Black on Canada's view of the American assassination history?

Look, I think they were shocked.

Canadians are shocked at the level of violence in the United States.

As you know, it's a different tradition.

We didn't become the independent country

by taking the old muskets off the wall

and going out and shooting the British.

And we don't have a constitutional right to bear earns so so in

practice only people need guns to protect herds you know with some types of farmers and gun collectors really

had guns. They're not, there isn't a gun in every home in this country, but the

crime rate is relatively low and the sociology is less complicated. There's

no legacy of slavery because we never really had slavery.

And slavery was to bring in tropical crops and we don't, they're like cotton and we don't have that here.

So, so, Canadians are a little astounded and dismayed by the level of violence in the UN.

So they were shocked and you know we never had the head of the country shot.

We had a total of we've had a total of pre-political assassinations in 200 years but they weren't

the head of the country and and uh... uh... so yes they're shocked and but they you know they're certainly were glad that he that he wasn't seriously

...