Time to take a stand on guns
Posted By Greg Vandermeulen
Posted 28 days ago
It’s not that people from the greater Toronto area are actually dumber than their counterparts in rural areas, but they are more gullible. They are used to dealing with gang violence (on which the gun registry makes no impact) and they think that will increase if the Conservatives get their way.
Nov. 4 will be the date opposition MPs will show the nation what they are made of. They will have the choice of being honest, intelligent, and thoughtful representatives of Canadians, or take a partisan stand based on nothing more than ignorance, and cowardice. They will be voting on Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Hoeppner’s private members bill to end the long gun registry.
Rarely when it comes to issues is one side completely right, while the other is completely wrong. Often people come at issues from different perspectives and although one identifies with one side or the other, it doesn’t mean the “wrong” side is ignorant. In this case, there is no logical reason to continue to the gun registry in the shape and form it is now. The reasons are simple, beginning with cost. The Liberals initially told Canadians it would cost $2 million. However that number has now surpassed $1 billion, more than 500 times the original prediction. Imagine what that money could have done for real justice issues.
And there is no evidence of the gun registry saving even one life. One only has to listen to advocates of the registry for a few minutes before it’s clear how misinformed they are. Take for example Hayder Kadhim, an 18-year-old man from Dawson College who was shot three times in the 2006 rampage. He is an ardent advocate of the gun registry, at one time challenging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to a debate. Although he was undoubtedly a victim, he failed to recognize that his shooter had all three weapons legally registered. In other words, keeping the registry would do nothing to prevent this from happening again.
But what feels criminal about the process is that the opposition NDP and Liberals know all these facts. Many MPs want the registry gone. But the leaders know they can continue to snow over urban residents across Canada, where most of the votes come from.
It’s not that people from the greater Toronto area are actually dumber than their counterparts in rural areas, but they are more gullible. They are used to dealing with gang violence (on which the gun registry makes no impact) and they think that will increase if the Conservatives get their way.
But one look at Conservative policy and it is clear they would do nothing that has the remote chance of increasing crime. Opposition MPs owe it to their constituents to take a stand on Nov. 4, and abolish the failed registry for once and for all.
