Well… duh!  I couldn’t have imagined a border guard that didn’t have a gun while on duty.  Yet apparently they don’t.  So a bunch of them walked off the job in protest:

OTTAWA, Sept 1 (Reuters) – More than 40 Canadian border guards walked off the job this week to demand they be issued with handguns, and a union official said on Thursday that others could follow suit unless Ottawa issues them with weapons.

The guards, worried by reports that a U.S. fugitive could be trying to cross into Canada, left their posts at crossings in Fort Erie and Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Wednesday, causing some delay to border traffic.

Canadian police are armed and the guards’ union has been pressing for firearms for its members, saying they need better protection to do their jobs.

“Our members want to do the job of protecting the border but they need to properly protect themselves to do that,” Ron Moran, head of the guards’ union said in a statement.

“Until that happens, work refusals will likely reoccur.”

A spokesman for Public Security Minister Anne McLellan, who has overall responsibility for border security, said a recent independent study showed there was no need to arm the guards.

“Arrangements are made with police to ensure that when an armed presence is needed, the police can be contacted to work with the border agents to address a situation,” he said.

If the name Anne McLellan looks familar it’s probably because she is the woman that implemented the $2 Billion boondoggle gun registry in Canada.