Is Canada Finally Seeing the Light?

Although I rarely concern myself with the events that occur north of the U.S. border, a recent news item caught my eye that I feel compelled to comment on.

As most already know, Canada is one of the countries who has taken drastic steps to disarm the populace and make all of their citizens a member of the unarmed victims. Canada is home to some of the most restrictive gun registration laws in a costly but feeble attempt to protect the public.

About a decade ago, Canada created the Canadian Long Gun Registry that was to cost the taxpayers of the frozen north $2 million to maintain. A decade later, the costs of this boneheaded legislation has increased to $2 billion while doing little to protect the unarmed victims.

Bill C-301, a Private Members' Bill introduced by Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz would eliminate this worthless piece of legislation and require that the Canadian auditor general to perform a public safety test on all gun control measures every five years.

MP Barry Devolin, states about the bill "I believe Canadians would rather see their tax dollars keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and gangs, instead of harassing law-abiding citizens."

Wow, the Canadians are finally realizing that this type of legislation is a too costly to maintain while providing little protection to the the unarmed victims. Criminals do not follow laws, hence one of the reasons they are considered criminals.

Maybe we need to take a lesson from our neighbors to the north. The Canadian's have already outlawed most handguns and consequently the expensive registry is for long guns only. How would this impact those of us in the U.S.? Take a look at HR 45 that is an attempt to implement a similar registry.

Of course HR 45 is only designed to deal with handguns and those evil semi-automatic weapons with a detachable magazine. But at what cost financially? Our government is not known to be frugal when it comes to spending tax dollars. In fact, just the opposite is true. Our legislators spend money like drunken sailors on a two day liberty. With the current state of the U.S. economy and the projected budget deficits in the coming years can we even come close to affording more useless legislation like HR 45?

Gun Control Issues

The Second Amendment clearly states, "The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

This statement as a right of the people (not a militia or other quasi-military group) has been affirmed by the Supreme Court in the District of Columbia v. Heller case. One would think that this might set the anti-gun crowd (hereafter referred to as the unarmed victims) back a step or two in their zeal to infringe upon this right. Unfortunately, the gun grabbing continues. With Obama in office, our second amendment rights are more in jeopardy now than ever before.

A couple of the more recent bills to begin the progress through the mess that is our government are:

HR 257 - "Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of 2009". Introduced by Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas)

This bill is a prime example of the lack of knowledge of our lawmakers when it comes to firearms. The bill prohibits someone under the age of 21 of possessing a "semi-automatic assault rifle" or "large capacity magazine". Unfortunately, the bill lacks a definition of either of these prohibited items.

Now while this may seem like a great idea to the unarmed victims, the bill does not take into account that many of the members of our military are under 21 and regularly entrusted with the evil "semi-automatic assault rifles" in defense of our country.

HR 45 - "Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009". Introduced by Bobby L. Rush (D-Illinois)

This bill is an attempt to institute a nationwide registry for certain guns. Included in the list are the evil "semi-automatic rifles" as well as all pistols. This bill is a knee jerk reaction to the shooting death of Blair Holt, 16 at the hands of Michael Pace, 16. Pace was given the gun by a third juvenile Kevin Jones, 15 who also served as a lookout for Pace.

While the death of Holt is indeed a tragedy, does it necessitate the need for a national registry of certain firearms? I think not. This crime happened in Chicago, land of some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. A law-abiding citizen must jump though numerous hoops just to be able to own a handgun let alone carry one in public as Pace did. Just off the top of my head, there are at least four local laws already in place in Chicago to prevent just such a tragedy from occurring by restricting the right of a citizen to protect themselves. Pace and Jones ignored these laws as well as the ones against murder, assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a weapon within city limits, possession of a handgun by a minor and possession of a handgun on a CTA bus.

Why didn't those laws protect the life of Blair Holt? Are the laws that are on the books already ineffective or unenforceable? I will leave it to the reader to decide.

Licensing every handgun and certain semi-automatic rifles will not put an end to the violence. All this will serve to do is create another government bureaucracy to your money and track your actions as a private citizen.