Canadian Cops’ Advice: Leave Your Keys By The Door For Car Thieves

Facing rising crime including car thefts, the Toronto Police are trying to help families come up with ways to improve safety. But, one of their tips is rightfully getting all of the criticism and mockery it deserves. And more.

"Toronto Police advise the public to reduce the risk of home invasions aimed at car theft by placing their key fobs near the front door. This strategy is suggested because culprits are primarily entering homes to access cars, not to steal other items." 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/7TjMILu43d

— Shazi (@ShaziGoalie) March 14, 2024

Some of the things they’re doing make sense. They’re handing out doorstops that families can put in front of their doors to make it harder to kick them in. They’re handing out key fob Faraday bags that can prevent technically adept electronic thieves from stealing your car. They’re recommending better hinges on doors. They’re recommending things like cameras and not posting things on social media that could attract thieves.

All good advice that anyone can take advantage of.

But one thing they suggest reeks of giving the thieves exactly what they want: a recommendation to put your key fobs for your vehicles near the front door so that thieves who kick their way in won’t feel the need to come further into your home and attack you and your family. The chief even warns that thieves are armed, so giving them the keys the easy way is probably safer than making them come to your bedroom for them.

This brings up some obvious problems. For one, not all thieves are after your car keys. Some might grab the keys and then start looking for other valuables, including those in your bedroom, regardless of how easily available the keys were.

Some thieves like attacking and abusing people in the process of stealing things, and might beat you up or kill you just for the thrill of it. Some people coming into your home at night aren’t thieves at all. The whole point of the home invasion is to rape or kill the occupants. Or worse, the point may even be to abduct someone for a ransom.

But Canada’s government thinks gun crime will skyrocket if citizens are allowed to defend themselves with guns in their own homes. So instead, they give this kind of idiotic advice rather than let people think it’s okay to defend themselves.

There’s just one problem with that argument: About 190 miles away, across Lake Erie, crime continued to drop last year after Ohio enacted constitutional carry, removing all permitting requirements for people who can otherwise lawfully possess a firearm. (Yes, I know the thumbnail below shows a terrible grip.)

Instead of experiencing the massive rise in firearm-related crime that anti-gun groups predicted, nearly all of Ohio is seeing exactly the opposite. The inconvenient truth is crime is going down under permitless carry. Ohio families don’t have to keep their guns locked away with the ammo stored separately in a safe. They don’t have to ask the government for permission to own or carry a firearm.

Canada isn’t that different from the United States. The language (mostly), culture, and almost everything else stays about the same when you cross the border at Niagara Falls or Windsor or take the ferry to Pelee Island. Some Canadians like to think they’re more civilized, but civilization doesn’t flourish when the worst among us can harm others at will without meaningful resistance from good people.

As Jeff Cooper said, “Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud.” While he went on to say that the rifle is the queen of those weapons, that doesn’t do you much good when the queen — or her mounties — won’t let you use that rifle in self defense in your own home and won’t let you have a handgun for situations where rifles aren’t appropriate.