Follow the science..That was the rallying cry of Prime Minister Trudeau, his ministers, Dr. Teresa Tam and countless public health experts across Canada throughout the pandemic. So it would be reasonable to surmise that these same politocrats would apply this trusty maxim when it comes to solving violent gun crime in this country. But that inference would be incredibly wrong..During the pandemic experts in the fields of microbiology, public health, and immunology, were paraded in front of viewers on a near hourly basis to explain highly scientific and technical information, graphs, and statistics in simple layman’s terms..Yet in Canada, when it comes to firearm related crimes, illegal gun smuggling, and gang violence, it’s never about the statistics, evidence, or trends. In fact it is rare to see an expert on Canadian mainstream media explaining data pertaining to violent gun crime in Canada and who are the perpetrators. Usually what viewers see are politicians, most often Liberal MP’s, grandstanding and corrupting peoples' sympathy for the victims of shootings, to propagate their own flawed anti-gun narrative..People aren't buying it any more, of course. This was the finding of an internal document prepared by the Department of Public Safety and reported on by Blacklock’s Reporter on August 31st. It confirmed that that fewer than half of the owners would voluntarily surrender their firearms and 12 percent would never comply..But that kind of grabdstanding is Liberal standard practice..It is, for example, exactly what transpired following the killing spree of Gabriel Wortman in Nova Scotia in April 2020. That maniac claimed the lives of 22 innocent people, but it provided the perfect opportunity for Justin Trudeau and his cynical Liberals to grind an axe against Canadian firearm owners. While the families of the victims were still mourning their loved ones, the Liberals breathlessly used the tragedy to enact a gun ban on legal and law-abiding gun owners through the use of a highly contentious Order in Council (OIC) on 01 May 2020..What about following the science, that suggested this was a highly unusual event? Not a bit of it. At the time that the OIC was enacted there were no findings from a public inquiry or commission into the shooting. There was no statistical data on which to base the OIC on. It was purely ideological. The political machinations of a prime minister and government obsessed with image, and control.. Gabriel WortmanKiller Gabriel Wortman .Had they wait for the findings of the commission’s report into that shooting, they would have heard that the guns Wortman used were all illegally obtained. They were smuggled into the country from Maine, just across the border in the United States..They also would have learned that the RCMP had received multiple tips and calls about Wortman and his worrisome behavior, improperly stored, and carelessly used firearms but did nothing about it. But they didn’t wait, because it wasn’t politically expedient to do so. Even after they heard those findings though it still didn’t matter. The narrative of the tragedy suited their agenda, and a gun ban based on fearmongering was the prime ministerial prerogative. Consequently they proposed, debated, then passed Bill C-21 on 18 May 2023..This was billed as a “Comprehensive strategy to address gun violence and strengthen gun laws in Canada. But like most of our government's endeavors, the OIC gun ban, and Bill C-21 are shaping up to be yet another example of what epitomizes this government — a failure..Actually, let me clarify that last point. This will not be your ordinary run of the mill failure from a slipshod government, this will be one of epic proportions. Which is saying something given how unfathomably bad Bill C-18 has proven to be..But since the gun ban was enacted, Statistics Canada (StatsCan) data shows that shooting related homicides have actually increased from 279 in 2020, to 343 in 2022. If gun bans work, then why is that number increasing? Not only that, but StatsCan data also shows that Canadians who possess a PAL are statistically less likely to commit a homicide, with or without a firearm, when compared to the average Canadian in the same age and gender bracket. So why target them specifically and not criminals?.Then there is the cost, which is technically a two-edged sword. First is the cost to the firearm and sport shooting community. Second is the cost to the taxpayer..Without a doubt, the firearm industry was taken by surprise by the OIC gun ban and Bill C-21 and it has proved disastrous for many small businesses. They were left holding millions of dollars in merchandise that one day was perfectly legal to sell, that overnight became illegal..This is an industry which according to a report commissioned by the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) found that in 2018, the sport shooting and hunting industry contributed $8.5 billion to the Canadian economy..For an economy that is teetering on the brink of stalling into a major recession, a government that continues to throttle this kind of revenue stream demonstrates an impressive commitment to a special brand of stupid..The second side of the sword is the cost to the taxpayer. Initially, it was billed by Trudeau and his government as costing only $200 millio. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimated earlier this year that the actual number is closer to $756 million..Remember how the original long gun registry was initially estimated to only cost $1 million, but ended up costing $2 billion? Canadians won’t be tolerant of another waste of their tax dollars, especially one that won’t make them any safer while they struggle with the cost of housing, food inflation, and heating their homes..But worst of all is the Trudeau’s absolute pigheaded, hypocritical and inexcusable reluctance to listen to the experts, Canada's law-enforcement officials..In 2020 following the OIC, the National Police Federation, the union representing the RCMP, released a report which stated the OIC gun ban, and proposed legislation does not address current or urgent threats to public safety as it pertains to gun violence and public safety. They claimed, “It diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”.Police Chiefs and individual front line officers across the country in major urban centres and rural setting have expressed the same exact sentiment. Imagine if Trudeau had ignored doctors and nurses advice during the pandemic…..Then there are Canadian firearms owners, who by necessity are more familiar with Canadian firearm legislation, rules and regulations than the politicians who enact them..These owners know that the gun bans and buy back won’t reduce firearm-related crime and are fed up with being the scapegoats for an incompetent government’s inability and lack of willingness to deal with the real cause — organized crime, gangs, and gun smugglers, as detailed in the Department of Public Safety report mentioned above..So in a confusing turn of doctrine, we’ve gone from following the science to ignoring it. From seeking out and following expert opinions to preferring to manipulate tragedies. And all this, so Trudeau and the government can forge ahead with their costly, and poorly thought-out ideological plan, which will have no meaningful impact on our safety, which seemingly goes against all good reason and logic..Actually… this is all very on brand for Trudeau and this government. Thankfully, people have grown tired of it.
