Posted on 12/11/2005 9:14:36 PM PST by Clive
Grits misfire on guns
We were wrong on the the rifle registry and PM Martin's handgun ban is no better: It could hurt him
By Sheila Copps
OTTAWA -- The phone lines to the Prime Minister are burning up. The last thing rural MPs want to talk about during this election empaign is gun control. By throwing the handgun grenade into their midst, Martin may have just kissed rural Canada goodbye.
No doubt his handlers have done their math. There are more voters living in cities than in rural areas. By proposing to ban handguns, he hopes to solidify his support in the cities and further contrast his "progressive" values with those of the "right-wing, pro-gun Tories."
It is a risky move but one which Martin hopes will solidify his appeal to the Liberal/left/NDP/Buzz vote, especially in Ontario. It also repeats a history of Ottawa-made gun rules that underscore the growing divide between cities and the rest of the country.
Kim Campbell actually started gun control as we know it. As Brian Mulroney's justice minister, she introduced a firearms acquisition certificate for would-be gun purchasers, with provisions for training and medical evaluation.
Not to be outdone by a red Tory, the Liberals' Red Book in 1993 promised further changes to gun laws to promote "safe homes and safe streets." That promise paved the way for Grit justice minister Allan Rock to pass a new law requiring the registration of every single long firearm.
At the time, Rock said he would love to ban all handguns, but his natural caution and the caucus (of which I was then a member) convinced him to take a different path. His department studied the possibility of a total ban but recommended a limitation, instead, on all snub-nose guns with very short barrels, the so-called "Saturday night specials."
All hell broke loose. Turns out, the legislation would have banned some guns used in Olympic competition. When Susan Nattrass lobbied parliamentarians to legalize Olympic guns, she was joined by thousands of law-abiding citizens who shoot on a recreational basis.
Rural members were threatening to bolt our caucus. To smooth matters over, Rock asked a committee co-chaired by an urban member (the late Shaunessey Cohen) and a rural member (Kenora-Rainy River's Bob Nault) to come up with a compromise. A fractious consensus was reached which left no one happy but which permitted us to limp through the 1997 election with a reduced majority. One element of the compromise was a recommendation that the gun registry not be run by the department of justice. (Caucus predicted that an Ottawa-based agency would be the wrong place to speedily deliver a registration system that had to be seamless, if the government was ever going to win over the naysayers. We were right!)
The registry was a bureaucratic nightmare which was so over-budget and underperforming that it became a constant source of embarrassment. MPs and ministers who had guns (and there were many) complained they couldn't even get through on the toll-free line to register. Eventually the whole mess was turned over to the RCMP.
By reopening the issue, PM Paul Martin may end up hurting his cause.
Most Canadians, in principle, favour limitations on the use of guns. Most do not use them in their daily lives. But for those who do, legitimately, the gun registry exemplifies all that does not work in the ivory gun-free tower of the nation's capital.
It also serves to reinforce the impression that the current registry is not working. If it were so successful, why are unregistered arms of all types littering the streets of cities like Toronto? Confused Canadians want to know why Karla Homolka can walk free and law-abiding citizens are getting hit with even more bureaucracy.
This latest move has little to do with gun control results. It has a lot to do with widening the split between progressive Liberals and regressive Tories.
Unfortunately, the split goes beyond political parties. It serves to reinforce the view of rural Canadians that their voices, and their votes, don't really count.
"Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd
Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd."
- The Mourning Bride, act III by William Congreve
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It also repeats a history of Ottawa-made gun rules that underscore the growing divide between cities and the rest of the country.
Can Alberta and Saskatchewan be annexed to Texas.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
I love watching Sheila, former Liberal party "Rat Pack" member, radical party loyalist and Cabinet Minister under 'ti Jean, using the conservative Sun Media flagship Toronto Sun to take shots at Paul Martin and his cabinet.
"Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd
Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd."
- The Mourning Bride, act III by William Congreve
It may also cost them in Atlantic Canada.
While the Liberals are skyrocketing in support in the Toronto area (some polls have them in the 60s in the city of Toronto), it is giving the Conservatives new life elsewhere. That is not reflected in the national or provincial numbers, but it costs the Liberals seats as they already were in control of Toronto.
I watched a christian program last night which was obviously from Ontario. They were going on and on about how they needed to get the churches to get the vote out. IF the churches alone in the Ontario ridings get out a healthy vote they will take all those seats where the same occurs. They said that this is the most WICKED government that Canada has EVER seen. So they get 40 seats in Toronto. That leaves about 70 other seats does it not? And for sure they are going to be way down in Quebec. Atlantic Canada worries me some. Then in my own Province we have Vancouver Island and East Vancouver will be NDP for sure. The interior will be Conservative. Alberta will be almost all conservative. I would love to see Ann McLellan out of her A$$!!!
Strongly agreed, and there are many ridings where such could make the difference (the Liberal marginals in Ontario).
Outside of the GTA, there are 63 seats in Ontario. I'd say at least 55 of them are winnable if we play everything right. If we can make gains in the suburbs, that would be icing on the cake - without anything from the Liberal fortress of Toronto.
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