Dec 08 2005
Oh well, guess I’m voting conservative.
CBC Article - “Liberals expected to announce new gun laws”
Liberal Leader Paul Martin is expected to announce a sweeping ban on handguns as he makes a campaign stop in a part of Toronto plagued by a series of shootings…
…Under the current system, people are allowed to possess a restricted firearm for target practice, target shooting competitions, to form part of a collection or, in very rare cases, for employment purposes or to protect your life.
Ironically I was just having a conversation with my father about the problems I had with the conservative party (well, frankly with all major political parties), and that the only reason for voting for them was the liberal policies on civilian firearms ownership in Canada. I was waffling. I’m done waffling.
I WILL be voting for the conservatives, I will be convincing others to do likewise. Thank you Paul Martin, for helping me make up my mind.
[Hat Tip: Malfeus]
Although Paul Martin has not (as I write) yet announced the specifics of the Liberals’ handgun ban, I’m appalled by their bare-faced political opportunism on this issue.
This is a complex issue, and the Liberals do a disservice to the intelligence of the Canadian electorate by proposing a handgun ban. Another example of narrow-minded knee-jerk policies attacking syptoms rather than problems.
Yes … the world would be a better place if all handguns disappeared overnight. But it ain’t gonna happen. (Reality check: American gun manufacturers have now been granted immunity to continue pumping out those things … http://www.slate.com/id/2129649/ )
Experience in Britain, which introduced its handgun ban in 1997, is inconclusive but suggests that the ban has had little impact on gun-related violence. (British gun control opponents argue that handgun violence has actually increased, but their statistics are questionable.)
Inceasing handgun violence is not the problem; it is a symptom. And simply treating the symptom is almost always ineffectual.
The Conservatives’ policies on gun control are even more näive than those of the Liberals’. (Not to mention Stephan Harper’s refusal to unequivocally disassociate from rumours of support from the American NRA.) The Conservatives’ ’solution’ is more cops and mandatory sentences. A ’solution’ which has been tried, and failed miserably, in the US for decades. But the “law and order” lobby persists. Even as the US grows to account for 25% of the world’s prison population!
The ‘handgun ban’ is a political red herring dragged across the real issues of social inequity which breed the demand for those handguns. And, as with all other attempts at legislative prohibition in the face of unreduced demand, it will simply put more money in the hands of the criminals willing to meet that demand.
As far as a vote for the Conservatives, it’s worth bearing in mind that a vote for a “law and order” platform is inevitably a vote for a compromise of our civil liberties.
I know… Martin is playing for an audience, and frankly I doubt little will come of it post-election (especially as it’s a target specific promise to a relatively small specific group).
That’s not the point.
This sort of grandstanding horseshit makes me cross, particularly when it’s at my expense. While this is not the only issue, this is my issue. I’m afraid it’s a natural consequence of the “siege” mentality thats been forced upon me by the current Liberal Government.
I’d like to take the moral high ground on this one, but I’m very, very, VERY, VERY tired of living under a government who’s goal (by deed and word) seems to be disarming me when convenient.
They say you reap what you sow, while this definately applies to me, it equally applies to the liberal government. They have driven me from my moderate roost.
So be it.
“grandstanding horseshit”?! LOL! It’s an election campaign, fercrissakes!
Hey! But it’s good to see you being radicalized from your ‘moderate roost’!
Now, if we can only persuade you to the radical left
Hehe… too true, but I was trying to point out it all feels like grandstanding horseshit, the election has really only increased the frequency of my irritation, not the depth of it.
Hmmm, the left is a reach… the moderate perch was comfortable, if a little confusing.
“pumping out thre things”.
Heh.
Firearms are 15th century technology. You cannot un-invent them if you tried, Matti.
Australia tried to get rid of all handguns … a trade in blackmarket chinese Norinco made Glock clones started immediately … they now enter the country in container-loads marked “machine parts”.
China will sell ANY weapon to anyone ( 106mm recoiless rifles are around $1000 each, AKs cost less than their shipping costs ), cash up front. They post a guard to see to it the container stays sealed until it leaves China. After that, they could care less.