Posted on 05/10/2010 8:55:54 AM PDT by neverdem
A Conservative Party MP’s private member’s bill to scrap the long-gun firearms registry is inching toward Parliament for its third and final vote in a few weeks.
The only reason it got this far in a minority Parliament is that the Liberal and NDP leaders allowed free votes on it. That’s changed, as Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has announced he’ll punish any of his members who vote their conscience or for their constituents on this matter.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has thus far remained silent. On previous readings, 12 of his caucus voted in favour of scrapping the registry. So it might pass.
But the battle is far from over. With the brave and notable exception of Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson, Canada’s serving cops seem to just love the $2-billion boondoggle that is the firearms registry.
On the other hand, cops love a lot of things that aren’t good for society. That’s why nobody wakes up in the morning to exult: “Oh goodie! I live in a police state!”
OK, nobody except for guys such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong Il.
And you just know the guys on the dumb side of this issue are on the ropes when they make an impassioned call for us all to just get along.
Charles Momy, the cop who is president of the Canadian Police Association, had this to say last week: “We need to stop pointing fingers at one another. This should not be about us versus them or rural versus urban or even police versus politicians.”
Horse crap.
This debate was always about us versus them. And it was always about pointing fingers.
After loner loser Gamil Gharbi, aka Mark Lepine, killed 14 women at a Montreal engineering school more than 20 years ago, public policy on guns was hijacked by shrieking urbanites.
Anyone who objected to draconian gun-control legislation — citing practicality, lack of efficacy or civil rights — was written off as a psychopathic redneck whose idea of formal wear was to iron a crease into his army surplus fatigue pants, then plop down in the couch in front of Ted Nugent’s hunting show on the big screen while eating deep-fried pork belly with his arm around his sister.
So, Momy, you want to oppose the gun registry because you think it makes you safer at the expense of the people you purport to serve ... fine. Just don’t fib about it.
When it served your political purposes, you and all your friends were more than willing to stand by and allow law-abiding gun owners in this country to be demonized.
You don’t get to decide to play nice at the 11th hour because you’re afraid you’re going to lose.
We spent more than $71 million per person killed at L’Ecole Polytechnique to set up the gun registry.
Momy, in a flight of idiocy the likes of which is rarely seen, also said: “If the registry can prevent one person in this country from either committing suicide, from being injured or killed, or that a crime is solved as a result of information obtained by the registry, isn’t that worth it for all Canadians?”
No. It is not worth it. You can’t run around spending $2 billion to save a single life. Can’t do it. Unsupportable. Unaffordable. Moronic, moronic, moronic.
But if you were really worried about the deaths of innocent people and had $2 billion to spend, you’d be better off paving over swimming pools than worrying about guns.
In the U.S. — where they have more guns than people — there’s a fatal drowning of a child for every 11,000 back yard swimming pools, compared to a fatal shooting of a child for every million guns. Swimming pools are more dangerous to children than firearms — 100 times more dangerous.
Can’t wait for the swimming pool registry.
Britain banned most guns and its rate of violent crime jumped 50% in the 1990s alone.
That nation has a rate of violent crimes such as aggravated assault and the burglary of occupied homes that is greater than that of the U.S.
Finally, our auditor general pointed out the Canadian Firearms Centre couldn’t provide “evidence-based outcomes” showing the registry minimized risks to public safety or reduced deaths.
What that means is there’s no evidence the gun registry does any of the things it’s supposed to do.
Time to get rid of it.
ian.robinson@sunmedia.ca
“It’s the idea that’s important, not the facts.”
**********************************************************
If it makes a liberal get a tingle up their leg that’s what is important, not the facts.....boy we could write a book on that one!
It’s not that Canada saw the light, it is that we got a TRUE Christian Conservative in as Prime Minister. I know it’s only a minority position right now, but the opposition(s) are constantly being confounded by him. He has been amazing. The other parties are all bluster and no action. They are afraid to bring down the government because both of them are losers. I LOVE it since we had 13 straight years of pure red Liberals under Creepien and Martin. Not to mention the real wrecking ball, Trudeau. This is pure relief I tell ya. CO
We don’t have a Liberal in the Prime Minister’s chair. I know America has trouble following anyone else’s politics. Harper is your friend (or was before Obama). There could be absolutely no real friendship there. Obama is a horse or a far different color than Harper. CO
I have a lot of love for our neighbors to the north. My college junior-year roommate was born in Manitoba and was a dyed-in-the-wool Canadian, but he was as far left as anyone I know. I loved him to death except when we got into politics and social issues.
I’m glad you all are getting some relief, and I pray that it continues there and trickles down to us in the States.
I say, the law should require every adult to carry a defensive firearm, and those that refuse are required to carry the bulk of the tax burden to have police to show up after the bad guys have robbed, killed, raped or otherwise molested them.
“Anyone who objected to draconian gun-control legislation — citing practicality, lack of efficacy or civil rights — was written off as a psychopathic redneck whose idea of formal wear was to iron a crease into his army surplus fatigue pants, then plop down in the couch in front of Ted Nugent’s hunting show on the big screen while eating deep-fried pork belly with his arm around his sister.”
_____________________
See this all the time! We in the NRA, or any other citizens’ gun rights organizations are the strange ones.
I’ll stay strange.
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.