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Jordan Heron - The Vanity Card Series

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#135 - GUN CONTROL IS USING BOTH HANDS

In the wake of more shootings in Toronto, despite the dropping crime rate, I hear the renewed calls of the desperate who don't know what else to do:
"Stricter Handgun Control!!!"

Really? Let me tell you what it takes to legally acquire a handgun in Canada...

You need to take two courses: the non-restricted firearms safety course and the restricted firearms safety course. You need to pass a practical exam, demonstrating that you know how to handle the firearms properly. In the interest of full disclosure, you can take both courses in a single weekend. Once you have the paperwork in hand saying you've passed, you can apply for your non-restricted and restricted firearms licenses with the RCMP. The application requires you to include a lot of information, including a minumum of 3 people who vouch for you, and are not afraid of the thought of you owning firearms. If you are in a relationship, your partner has to be one of these people. If you had a breakup within the previous three years, all of those ex-partners need to be included. The RCMP has free reign (as they should) to investigate you. Once you receive your licenses from the RCMP, you're good, right?

Well, yes, but you don't own any handguns yet. Now you go to a gun store, and you decide which handguns you want to purchase. You pay for them, and the gun store tells you to come back in a few days when the paperwork is done. When you come back, you get your handgun and a permit to take it home. BTW, you need to purchase a lock for the handgun, and a locked case to put it in to take it home, if you didn't come with one in the first place. So now you have your guns and you're good, right?

Well, yes, but all you're allowed to do is take your handgun out, admire it, clean it, and put it back. You are only allowed to fire it at an approve handgun range. And you aren't allowed to take your handgun to that range without calling the RCMP and getting a permit to take it to that range. You call, and you get a permit. So, you're good, right?

Well, yes, you are. You have a handgun, a proper place to lock it up, and the permit to take it to the proper place and shoot it. So let me ask you...

What part of this process needs MORE controls?

I would dearly love to see statistics on gun crimes showing the history of the guns. Where did they come from, who used them in the crime, and how did they come to be at the crime scene? I am willing to bet, dollars to doughnuts, that these guns are NOT legally owned and with travel permits. So further gun control is NOT going to stop these crimes. It's just going to piss off legitimate gun owners, and tempt them to not follow the onerous rules.

06 June 2012 AD
06 June 52 JHE

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