LETTER

Response to firearm registration letter

 

I see a gun control advocate wrote in, first alluding to semi-automatic firearms, which are in fact already registered in Canada, and then about the proposed Quebec registry, which, as he knows but does not mention, is proposed for long guns (i.e., hunting rifles and shotguns).  

Possessing a firearm licence in Canada (PAL) already covers what the author suggests. Again, gun-control advocates know this, but leave it vague enough to try to steal undeserved support for their position. Each licence holder has paid a fee and passed a safety course, a comprehensive background check, and continues to be subject to a daily police computer information check (CPIC).

These activists can never clearly explain how licence holders registering their long guns will cut down on crime or violence. They're great at cherry-picking statistics, though. (I see no mention of Israel or Switzerland!)

What I do see are appeals to emotion and deliberate fact-avoidance. Quebec doesn't need to spend its scarce resources on a long gun registry, but licence holders are easy targets politically and politicians and activists can be seen to be doing "something" that's easy to sell to the public. I hope we the people have better reasoning skills than they believe we do.

Eric Russell
Aylmer