When politicians are in hot water, their advisors are trained to immediately find a way to ‘change the channel.’ That is, do something to get the media or voters to talk about something else..The day Trudeau’s latest role as Mr. Dressup landed in the news, I predicted that the Liberals would release their gun-ban policy. Already a cynic, my crotchety predictions were confirmed almost immediately..While the Liberals have been dreaming up their gun-ban for roughly three years now, the policy announced this week was clumsily unfinished, and likely rushed out the door. Both its specificity and its vagary are dangerous..The plan strangely called for the banning of ‘assault rifles.’ This was curious to me, since the civilian ownership of assault rifles has been banned since the 1970s. Full stop. Every single last assault rifle in Canada is either owned by the government, or owned illegally. They are not for sale, but Liberals will double-ban them.. Trudeau-Blackface TurbanPrime Minister Trudeau .The Liberal double-dare-super ban on assault rifles shouldn’t concern us, other than to demonstrate a dangerously poor understanding of firearms by those seeking to take them away..Which brings us to the Liberal promise to ban ‘military style’ guns. While ‘assault rifle’ has a clear and specific definition, ‘military style’ has none whatsoever, but we can make a reasonable assumption that the Liberals mean any gun that looks scary and might be used in a movie..This presumably would include the already misclassified AR-15. However much Liberals seem to believe that ‘AR’ means ‘assault rifle,’ it means ‘ArmaLite Rifle.’ It has the same five-round magazine restrictions that apply to all Canadian rifles. It has a rate of fire no faster than thousands of common rifles and shotguns used to hunt deer and ducks..The AR-15’s one unforgivable feature, is that it looks scary. The Liberal grounds for considering the AR-15 and many other guns as ‘military style’ is about the same putting a Prius engine in a Ferrari body, and calling it a ‘race style car.’. AR 15AR-15 .The vague terms thrown about by the Liberals make it entirely possible for them to ban any gun that has a coat of camouflage paint on them..To round up these menacing-looking guns, the Liberals will first institute a ‘buy-back’ program; a strange term since none of us ever bought our guns from the government in the first place. Canadians will have two years to peacefully hand over their guns at prices set by the politicians, after which, well, they don’t really say. Standard police protocol for apprehending suspected criminals that are known be armed is to send a fully armed SWAT team. And make no mistake, previously legal gun owners would be considered armed criminals overnight.. SWAT Team .The Liberals have been silent on this, but what is their plan if citizens refuse to hand over their guns to a government that arbitrarily tries to seize them?.According to the Department of Justice, there are an estimated three million legal civilian gun owners in Canada, owning about seven million firearms, of which 1.2 million are restricted (handguns, AR-15s, ect). It’s not a stretch to suspect that at least a few of these people are not going to hand over their own property just because Mr. Dressup needed a few more votes.. Gun Ownership ChartCivilian small arms ownership by country. Credit smallarmssurvey.org .Canada has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world at 5th globally, but those numbers are still only one-in-ten citizens, and it’s safe to say that a very small proportion of this sub-set vote even consider voting Liberal. This makes Canada’s law-abiding gun owners a ripe target for a cynical vote-grab by politicians desperate to change the channel..Canadian gun owners are more often than not, notably less militant in defending their gun rights than their American counterparts. There isn’t a single significant firearms group agitating for assault rifles or lifting the requirement for background checks and strict licensing. Canadian civilians are internationally speaking a well-armed people, but we strike a generally reasonable balance that keeps neither side entirely happy, but neither side feeling egregiously wronged..The Liberal gun-ban program might be good politics for them, but it will tear a wound in the fabric of Canadian society that they will come to regret.
When politicians are in hot water, their advisors are trained to immediately find a way to ‘change the channel.’ That is, do something to get the media or voters to talk about something else..The day Trudeau’s latest role as Mr. Dressup landed in the news, I predicted that the Liberals would release their gun-ban policy. Already a cynic, my crotchety predictions were confirmed almost immediately..While the Liberals have been dreaming up their gun-ban for roughly three years now, the policy announced this week was clumsily unfinished, and likely rushed out the door. Both its specificity and its vagary are dangerous..The plan strangely called for the banning of ‘assault rifles.’ This was curious to me, since the civilian ownership of assault rifles has been banned since the 1970s. Full stop. Every single last assault rifle in Canada is either owned by the government, or owned illegally. They are not for sale, but Liberals will double-ban them.. Trudeau-Blackface TurbanPrime Minister Trudeau .The Liberal double-dare-super ban on assault rifles shouldn’t concern us, other than to demonstrate a dangerously poor understanding of firearms by those seeking to take them away..Which brings us to the Liberal promise to ban ‘military style’ guns. While ‘assault rifle’ has a clear and specific definition, ‘military style’ has none whatsoever, but we can make a reasonable assumption that the Liberals mean any gun that looks scary and might be used in a movie..This presumably would include the already misclassified AR-15. However much Liberals seem to believe that ‘AR’ means ‘assault rifle,’ it means ‘ArmaLite Rifle.’ It has the same five-round magazine restrictions that apply to all Canadian rifles. It has a rate of fire no faster than thousands of common rifles and shotguns used to hunt deer and ducks..The AR-15’s one unforgivable feature, is that it looks scary. The Liberal grounds for considering the AR-15 and many other guns as ‘military style’ is about the same putting a Prius engine in a Ferrari body, and calling it a ‘race style car.’. AR 15AR-15 .The vague terms thrown about by the Liberals make it entirely possible for them to ban any gun that has a coat of camouflage paint on them..To round up these menacing-looking guns, the Liberals will first institute a ‘buy-back’ program; a strange term since none of us ever bought our guns from the government in the first place. Canadians will have two years to peacefully hand over their guns at prices set by the politicians, after which, well, they don’t really say. Standard police protocol for apprehending suspected criminals that are known be armed is to send a fully armed SWAT team. And make no mistake, previously legal gun owners would be considered armed criminals overnight.. SWAT Team .The Liberals have been silent on this, but what is their plan if citizens refuse to hand over their guns to a government that arbitrarily tries to seize them?.According to the Department of Justice, there are an estimated three million legal civilian gun owners in Canada, owning about seven million firearms, of which 1.2 million are restricted (handguns, AR-15s, ect). It’s not a stretch to suspect that at least a few of these people are not going to hand over their own property just because Mr. Dressup needed a few more votes.. Gun Ownership ChartCivilian small arms ownership by country. Credit smallarmssurvey.org .Canada has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world at 5th globally, but those numbers are still only one-in-ten citizens, and it’s safe to say that a very small proportion of this sub-set vote even consider voting Liberal. This makes Canada’s law-abiding gun owners a ripe target for a cynical vote-grab by politicians desperate to change the channel..Canadian gun owners are more often than not, notably less militant in defending their gun rights than their American counterparts. There isn’t a single significant firearms group agitating for assault rifles or lifting the requirement for background checks and strict licensing. Canadian civilians are internationally speaking a well-armed people, but we strike a generally reasonable balance that keeps neither side entirely happy, but neither side feeling egregiously wronged..The Liberal gun-ban program might be good politics for them, but it will tear a wound in the fabric of Canadian society that they will come to regret.
