Toronto - Canada to Arm Border Guards Along U.S. Border

Toronto - Canada announced it will outfit border guards with guns for the first time, moving to keep officers at their posts in the facing of increasing threats by armed fugitives.

Canada's guards along its 4,000-mile border with the United States do not carry guns, but many have demanded firearms.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government plans to arm and train its 4,500 border agents over the next 10 years to use firearms. He said that starting in September 2007 some will be armed like their U.S. counterparts.
"There have been numerous examples of officers leaving their posts because they simply weren't equipped to deal with the kind of threat that was anticipated to come over the border," Harper said.

Officers abandoned four posts in British Columbia earlier this year when told two murder suspects from California were headed their way. The men were apprehended by armed U.S. law enforcement officers.