TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- Canadian officials, seeking to make sense of another fatal shooting in what has been a record year for gun-related deaths, said Tuesday that along with a host of social ills, part of the problem stemmed from what they said was the United States exporting its violence.

"It's a sign that the lack of gun laws in the U.S. is allowing guns to flood across the border that are literally being used to kill people in the streets of Toronto," Miller said.

"There are neighborhoods in Toronto where young people face barriers of poverty, discrimination and don't have real hope and opportunity. The kind of programs that we once took for granted in Canada that would reach out to young people have systematically disappeared over the past decade and I think that gun violence is a symptom of a much bigger problem," Miller said.

The escalating violence prompted the prime minister to announce earlier this month that if re-elected on January 23, his government would ban handguns.

John Thompson, a security analyst with the Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute, says the number of guns smuggled from the United States is a problem, but that Canada has a gang problem -- not a gun problem -- and that Canada should stop pointing the finger at the United States.

"It's a cop out. It's an easy way of looking at one symptom rather than addressing a whole disease," Thompson said.

...Hey, don't look at us, it's not our problem! Sound familiar, pricks? That's the kind of response when we asked for help from Kanada(yeah, that's the way I want to spell it) when we asked them to secure their border a bit better.

Now you guys can start fighting a battle of your own. Enjoy the problem of poverty causing destruction in your streets. You guys tried to hide the problem long enough, now it's finally coming out!

Yeah, blame us... instead of your system. Your country is supposedly so great, national healthcare, quality of life... Let's see how you deal with the reality of what you REALLY are...

Maybe you should build a wall to keep our guns out, hell, we'll probably even help you! We would welcome it.

...oh and another thing... banning guns won't do a thing except leave criminals have free reign over your country... go ahead, it'll be fun to watch