Let's get something straight - disagreeing with someone's point of view is not "dissing" the person, nor does it constitute a 'personal attack', at least not as I understand the term.
It's simple. Registration is forever, the paper trail existing in some form somewhere. Licencing can and does expire at the whim of government. Due to licencing, there are several classes of firearms ownership - full autos and 12(6) prohibs. Some of us own firearms others will NEVER have the opportunity to own. You hear people lamenting this state of affairs on CGN regularly.
For those of us that owned some or all of these firearms, pre-dating any of this social engineering bovine garden enhancer, this is utter nonsense. It accomplished exactly ..... ? Help me here, it MUST have been done for some good reason. It sure wasn't done for the usual reasons of peace, order and good government, based on the criminal misuse of these firearms.
Did the introduction of the FAC accomplish anything other than to make 'paper criminals' out of otherwise law-abiding citizens who did not apply? The same can be said of the subsequent POL/PAL system. What has banning, restricting, prohibiting, licencing done other than to reduce the number of firearms owners? How many times have you heard of people giving up owning handguns because they tired of the associated paperwork? How many people would like to own an AR 15 but won't for the same reason? How many would like to legally own an heirloom 'prohib' but missed the cut off date?
Has this improved the quality of life for Canadians? Is our society a safer, gentler place as a result? Has it prevented events like what happened at L'Ecole Polytechnique, Dawson College, Mayerthorpe, the rcmp shootings in New Brunswick, the National War Memorial in Ottawa?
How many have read "Gun Control - Gateway To Tyranny" by the late Aaron Zelman? How many are aware that the 1968 US Gun Control Bill and our own gun control laws (including the term "firearms acquisition permit") are taken almost verbatim from the 1938 Nazi Gun Control Laws? I find it difficult to discuss these things with people who are uninformed and unaware of the historical precedents.
I repeat - between licencing and registration, licencing is the greater evil. Those who cannot or will not grasp this simple fact are advocating, aiding and abetting the 'Prime Directive' - civil disarmament one gun, one 'classification' at a time. You'd think it would be obvious in view of the guns we have lost access to since the process began.
The brouhaha over 'good gun- bad gun" (to include FA's and the other prohibs like the FN FAL) is a smokescreen, an intended divisive issue right out of the "Divide and Conquer" handbook of the Caesars. My personal weapon for 12 years was the Sterling SMG, but my real love was for the FN C1. I don't own one as our local range is not approved for firearms of this type, but we have a bay approved for the .50 BMG! Huh? What's wrong with this picture?
Thanks, licencing. What's next on the list - Garands and other WWII battle rifles? The .50 BMG rifles? Paraphrasing the Arch Bishop of Vienna : "They came for the full-autos, but I didn't have one, so I didn't care. Then they came for the semi-auto battle rifles, but I didn't have one of those either, so I didn't care. Then they came for semi-auto shotguns and sporting rifles, but again, I didn't have one of those either. When they came for my bolt action hunting rifle, there was no one left to care."
Get the picture?
I have no issue with purple other than this. I regard him as a brother-in-arms save for his endorsement of licencing. He likes to speak of his use of FA firearms in both his military career and as a civilian and how much fun it was/is. I'm happy for him, but if I may intercede on behalf of those not so fortunate, this is disingenuous, to say the very least, an insult to injury at best.
The recent incident in Paris France, hot on the heels of our own Jihadist attack in Ottawa, serves to prove the folly of tightening up controls on the citizens of any country. All the programs of licencing, permits and other controls do NOTHING to make the world a safer, gentler place. Social re-engineering be damned. Where has it ever worked and why should we be the victims of the next great social experiment?