Letters

My gun shoots Timbits

August 19, 2021   ·   0 Comments

by BRIAN LOCKHART

There must be an election coming up in the near future.

In fact, the politically paid advertisements starting turning up on radio several weeks before it was rumoured that the P.M. was going to call an election in an attempt to secure a majority in parliament.

Once again, the federal Liberals are using their “gun control” thing as an attempt to convince their voters in the large urban centres to cast a vote for the red.

Fair enough – I don’t blame them for that – that’s what politics is all about.

This version of their “gun control” thing however, is incorrect on many levels.

For starters, they say in the ad they are going to ban “assault weapons.”

Here’s the thing – ALL guns are assault weapons – they are designed to fire a lethal projectile at a high velocity – they aren’t designed to throw donuts and toss Timbits.

The term “assault weapon” was made up by some journalist in the U.S. Other journalists liked the sound of it and the phrase became part of the public lexicon.

Ask a military person if they use an “assault rifle” and they will tell you they use their standard issue “rifle.”

Many people associated the term “assault rifle” with weapons that are designed to deliver rapid fire. Rapid, as in a 20 or 30 round magazine that will fire all of it’s rounds in a matter of seconds.

I agree – we don’t need those in society.

But rapid fire weapons are already prohibited in Canada, and semi-automatic rifles are pinned to five rounds.

Exactly what is the government planning to ban if those weapons are already on the list?

The latest round of rifles placed on the prohibited list include names like AR-15, the M14, and SIG Sauer SIG MPX.

Apparently they have scary names and a scary appearance because anyone who knows anything about firearms will tell you those models are no more dangerous than any other rifle.

The radio ad claims that “many people feel threatened in their own community” and live in fear of gun violence.

Which community are they speaking about? I’ve lived in several cities and never once heard of anyone being afraid of gun violence.

If people are living in fear of gun violence, it is because they are living in one or two communities in the country that host the gang members who flout society’s laws and illegally carry unlicensed, and illegal weapons for nefarious purposes.

There are over 2 million registered gun owner in Canada, who have upward of 20 million firearms in their possession.

A check with Statistics Canada reveals that firearm related violent crimes represent only 3 per cent of all violent crimes in the country.

According to these statistics you should be more afraid of your neighbour’s baseball bat, golf club, or punching skills than his firearm.

The same statistics reveal that gang related firearm crimes have doubled since 2013.

Do you see the connection here?

There was a shooting in a mall in Mississauga this past week. That incident was a disgraceful disregard for society and could have easily ended with an innocent person being killed.

The shooters, of course, should have their firearms license immediately suspended or revoked and at the minimum, should be charged with “careless use of a firearm.”

Except authorities have not made an arrest and the shooters did not possess any kind of firearm license or legally own their weapons.

If the government wants to impress the population by reducing gun violence, they should do so by going after the source, not by persecuting individuals who follow the law and attempting to seize their property.

The laws themselves and the courts don’t help the situation. Ask a member of the Toronto Police, how often they arrest a gang member on a gun charge only to see the same violent person on the street the next day. And many are repeat offenders.

Do a google search on world leaders who attempted to systematically disarm the population. The photos that appear will most likely be people that you have thought of as ‘evil’ world leaders.

If the government wants to squash gun violence they have to go after the source of that violence and punish the perpetrators.

Going after legal and law-abiding gun owners by outlawing their property creates a situation that not only infringes on a person’s freedom it turns law abiding people into criminals simply by owning property.

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