As someone who — thanks to his mother’s birth in Scotland and her emigration to Canada — enjoys both British and Canadian citizenship, never have I felt more of a “resident alien” living in the United States than when it comes to the issue of guns and the so-called right to bear arms which gets invoked after every atrocity, such as the Aug. 31 shootings that left seven dead in Odessa, Texas.

It turns out that banning assault weapons doesn’t have to be so difficult after all. All it takes is courage, resolve, leadership — and a touch of common sense.

Addressing U.S. congress last September, Pope Francis bluntly dissected the multi-billion-dollar international arms industry.

ST. LOUIS - Forgiveness. Such a simple word, a mere 11 letters but it's at the heart of the Catholic faith, along with love, peace and justice, said the archbishop of St. Louis.

TORONTO - Toronto politicians aiming to eliminate handguns and ban ammunition have Church teaching on their side, says one Toronto councillor with a PhD in theology.

“We’re not a pacifist Church. We have been the Church that has argued for a just war position,” said Joe Mihevc.

But that doesn’t put the magisterium on the side of private gun owners, according to Mihevc.