Angry in the Great White North

Forwarded to me via email:

I am a handgun owner and target shooter. I abide by the law. I am not a criminal nor have I ever been. In fact, I am a Law Enforcement officer who serves my Country every day by protecting and ensuring the safety of Canadians and their way of life.

I cannot relate to you how outraged and livid I am at the announcement by the Liberal Party that if re-elected, they will impose a "sweeping ban" on handguns, and possibly put not only my sport, but my property at risk of being outlawed and confiscated! Given that everything but property rights are enshrined in the illustrious "Charter", I can now understand why they were not included when it was written! How Draconian!

I am also outraged that the Government of Ontario would support this useless endeavour under the mistaken belief that criminals will be thwarted in any way from obtaining firearms! You people are obviously naive in dealing with the criminal mind. I assure you, I am not!

How much tougher can you be on lawful handgun ownership that what already exists? I've jumped through hoops, taken course after course, had my records checked, provided intimate personal details, and paid thousands of dollars to enjoy my sport according to your assorted whims! Banning is not the answer!

You paint law abiding owners and illegal carriers with the same brush! Is this to be the norm for Canadians now? Will others be vilified in the same manner?

Will alcohol and tobacco be next? Will cars now be designed not to move in excess of 100km/h? Will there be a ban on sharp edged implements or items capable of causing blunt force trauma? How about all movies and video games rated higher than PG13? Where will you stop?

People will always find a way of inflicting physical harm or death on each other.

As a Border Services Officer, I see firearms every day. Most are lawful, yet some are not. I have no problem with the lawful ones, but have yet to have encountered a problem with a lawful firearm owner in the last 10 years on the job!

Our Justice System, contrary of popular belief, seems to see little problem with the unlawful guns smuggled into this country. Often, the offenders are given a small monetary fine and sentenced to probation. Very rarely are they sentenced to any jail time! How can a Government say they are serious about gun crime when they hand out pitiful fines and sentences to armed criminals who were arrested by unarmed border agents whom, fortunately, were lucky enough not to have been killed or seriously injured in the process?!

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when they still let persons charged with gun crimes out on bail, and allow Judges to administer inadequate prison sentences that do not reflect the seriousness of the crime?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when it is the policy of the Canada Border Services Agency and the Government of Canada to allow armed and dangerous persons unfettered entry to Canada in hopes that the police will catch them later before they harm or kill someone?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when there are hardly enough officers at the border to keep the traffic moving, let alone take serious action against gun crime?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when the penalty at the border is a paltry $500 fine per firearm?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when they employ poorly trained student labourers alongside fully trained seasoned officers in attempts to stop smuggled firearms amongst other forms of contraband?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when they refuse to arm the brave officers responsible for stemming the "tide" of illegal firearms coming from the USA?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when they say they will add a paltry 75 CBSA intelligence officers to solely work on firearms as opposed to actual front-line personnel whose feet are on the ground and who would be actively interdicting these firearms?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when it's the policy of the Canadian Firearms Centre to have Border Services Officers destroy the CFC copy of the Non-Resident Firearm Declaration Form (CAFC 909) in all instances but the importation of handguns? Are these records not important? Or is it the $25.00 every 60 days per person that is important?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when it does not keep statistics on whether firearms used in crimes were registered or not, from Canada or smuggled from elsewhere, and whether the user of the firearm was properly licensed or not?

How can the Government say they are serious about gun crime when they cannot admit with honesty that the Gun Registry was a failure and did not contribute to the safety of Canadians from criminals with guns?

I'm sorry, but you people do not know what you are doing! Maybe it's time you listened to the front line people wearing the badges and coming face to face with the criminals as opposed to the bureaucrats in the Ivory Towers who are telling you only what you want to hear!