Posted on 12/08/2005 10:38:26 AM PST by Libertas aut Mortis
soon to be muslim disneyland
Huh? These moonbats just don't get it.
And to think, without prohibition and Papa Joe, we might not have had to endure Teddy Kennedy
Hopefully the Canadian criminals will obey the hand gun laws. Are reasonable people actually expecting this to happen? They are going to create a country where the only citizens with handguns are the criminals.
| The Gun Room |
Canadian political officials are stunningly, terminally stupid.
I've read all the replies, and there are numerous misconceptions about gun laws in Canada.
Hand gun ownership has been controlled strictly in Canada since the 1930's. Rifles and shotgun ownership was not controlled. The gun registry, which I opposed because I knew it would not stop gun violence, and its cost would be prohibitive (estimated at $500K, now over $2 billion), has not been effective in tracing weapons used in crimes (the reason it was enacted). Plus, Alberta and Saskatchewan, whose provincial governments had to agree to run the registry for effectiveness, refused to do so (large rural populations, where rifles/shotguns are a necessity, and who resented Toronto city slickers telling them how to store guns, ammunition, and compelling them to take classes on gun safety and use). In these provinces, registration is far lower than ownership, and because the provinces control enforcment, there is none.
Back to hand guns - there have been a spate of gun related crimes, with illegally imported hand guns used to kill young men. All of the deaths have been in gang related turf wars. But it is only a matter of time before an innocent person is killed in the crossfire.
I don't have a problem with banning hand guns, since their legal ownership is rare anyway. And the number of deaths in terms of gun control speak for themselves. However, banning hand guns will not stop the turf war deaths which have plagued Canada's cities: All of the hand guns used is the gang deaths are already illegally owned. Banning them will not stop criminal activity.
What would stop the activity would be mandatory sentences, of say, 10 years for crimes in which a gun is involved. But the Liberals, who have moved to community sentences (such as house arrest) don't have the guts to do this, notwithstanding the fact most Canadian police associations advocate such an approach.
All of the problems associated with gun violence are directly related to gangs. Gangs are all involved in the drug trade. Canada's lax attitude to drug crime is the real cause of all the violence the Liberals are trying to turn into an election issue. But of course, to say this (which any police force will tell you is major in every Canadian city) is politically incorrect.
NISAT - [document title goes here]
http://www.nisat.org/database_info/country_industry.asp?Key=36
Canadian Small Arms Industry & Products
How are you on a conservative site?
Handguns are the way that people OUTSIDE of their homes are able to defend themselves and some people are more adept with handguns than long guns.
As you said, this ban will not stop gang violence (we have far more gang violence than you do, anyway) and banning handguns will not stop the traffic in guns.
Gun control does NOT save lives. Cultural and social factors have a far greater influence than any gun law (as demonstrated by the Swiss highest level of gun ownership--including full auto and cannon and anti-aircraft guns and Israel.) Japan and Swiss have a higher suicide rate than the US. One country almost totally restricts gun ownership and the other does not. The US has a lower suicide rate but a higher homicide rate (by non-gun weapons as well.)
I was linked here on comments about Ukraine and Russia (which were inaccurate) from another site.
Canada is not a "conservative" country. Moreover, conservative views are not monolithic.
You have far more gang violence despite very liberal gun laws, so how does this prove that liberal gun laws work?
Your examples are flawed because both Switzerland and Japan are fairly homogenous countries. Unlike Canada or the U.S.
The US likely has a lower suicide rate because of its predominant Christian values.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.