handgun ban in Canada
- Thread starter tacdriver
- Start date
You know (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), "they" are "them". - dan
Dukeoflawnchair
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Fort St John
)
+3....KNOB
Criminals are allready supposed to be BANNED from owning any type of firearm...?
Gun legislation is like....a farmer slaughtering his pig because the fox ate some of his chickens....
Punish the Law-abiding because the criminals mis-use firearms....Makes sense to me?
Steve Smith
Member
- Location
- Durham Region
Target
Come on buddy. I never mention Communism or sleeping with a gun under the pillow. Seat belt laws and Bike helmet laws were two examples I used in what I think is a constant and increasing interference by government in my life. For the record I think seat belts work, I also think in many, but not all cases helmets, whether ATV, motorcycle, work, and bike prevent or reduce injury. But I don't think they should be mandated by law. It's that slippery slope thing I mentioned before.
- Location
- BC, In a Van down by the river!
The Most Important Thing Is Getting New Shooters Into The Sport. Imagine If We All Just Introduced One New Shooter? We Multiply Like Crazy And Save Our Sport And Guns With Good Responsible People Represtenting Them.
Steve Smith
Problem is stats show that while you can get a certain number of folks to use seat belts voluntarily, you will never get them all to. With mandated compliance the percentage reachs near 100%. I don't think there is many now who don't understand seat belts save lives. Biggest improvement I have seen since the laws have been passed has been in the area of child seats.
One can argue I guess as adults we can make life choices but six month olds don't deserve to die because of our stupidity.
Take Care
Bob
Problem is stats show that while you can get a certain number of folks to use seat belts voluntarily, you will never get them all to. With mandated compliance the percentage reachs near 100%. I don't think there is many now who don't understand seat belts save lives. Biggest improvement I have seen since the laws have been passed has been in the area of child seats.
One can argue I guess as adults we can make life choices but six month olds don't deserve to die because of our stupidity.
Take Care
Bob
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Seat belts are mandated because they might reduce the degree of injury you could suffer in a serious traffic accident. I've been present at 2 collisions where the seat belt increased the degree of injury and resulted in a fatality in another. Child restraints do not have a stellar record either. If the government decided that excessive speed was responsible for serious personal injuries due to traffic accidents (speed kills, right?) and they limited the horse power or speed of acceleration to your car so that you could not exceed 55 mph, and it would take 5 minutes to reach that speed; would that be OK? After all it might save your life. If the government determined that more serious motor vehicle accidents occurred at night and they limited motorized travel after dark to commercial vehicles; it might save your life. Would that be OK? Maybe if you took a special course, filled out lots of forms, and paid a fee, you could get - at the discretion of the Chief Provincial Vehicles Officer - an ATTN (Authorization To Travel at Night).
Once the government makes you comply to a behavior by force of law, your only choice is to comply or live like a criminal. Living in a free society is scary, people can be injured or killed by their own actions or by the actions of others. Maybe we should surrender all our freedoms to the government; it might save your life. Would that be OK?
- Location
- BC, In a Van down by the river!
Steve Smith
Member
- Location
- Durham Region
Bob, the point I'm trying to make is that I don't think the government should be mandating personal safety laws to the public. I think we can all agree that special interest groups(Canada safety council, CFGC, to name a few) seem to gain the most(by way of government funding) from excessive legislation regarding safety. Not to mention the revenue generated by the fines for none compliance.
Then we can factor in the law of diminishing returns. Sure we can say that seat belt laws save lives, anti smoking laws saves lives, maybe anti drinking laws will save lives, well we all know now that anti gun laws don't save lives. Lets keep going here, what about vaccines? I'll admit most vaccines to prevent serious illness are a good idea, in my opinion. I work in a hospital so I'm vaccinated against Hep C and a few other serious illnesses. I am well aware that there can be risks associated with vaccines, and I think the risk vs. benefit for the example Hep C is worth it.
But what about the Flu shot? I remember when Tony Clement as Ontario minister of Health and Long Term Care tried and failed to force Paramedics to get the flu shot whether they wanted to or not. If he was successful he would have continued with every health care worker, and go on from there. I don't want to sound like I need to wear a tin hat, but what about McGinty and the HPV vaccines recently in the news. Did he offer the vaccine to save lives or so big business can make a buck?
My concern is that government is meddling in my life at the urging of special interest groups. It seems that to force compliance heavy fines and penalties are threatened. I think that in a democracy safety related issues should not be legislated, consumer education is the method that should be used to encourage compliance.
Steve Smith
Whether we like it or not we live in a regulated society. I know there is a limit as to what we are prepared to accept BUT one only has to look at New Orleans, post Katrina, to see what we are capable of when civil authority breaks down. One has to measure the common good vs individual rights and the degree of deminishing returns and by enlarge I think that balance is maintained (Seat Belts, Anti Smoking, and Bike Helmuts).
Back in the 1950's the Alberta government proposed to put pictures on drivers license and we had, at the time, a hew and cry sufficient to have the Alberta Gov't rescind the proposal. A decade later the proposal passed without so much as a wimper.
The Gun Registry went through with little outcry from the general public and only when the costs became outrageous did any significant pressure come to eliminate the long gun registry. I would suggest despite our lobby efforts it is the shear cost of maintaining, what the public now perceives as a waste of money, the long gun registry is the reason why it will one day be eliminated. I doubt even the Liberals will make a significant attempt at stopping it's destruction. I also think the Liberals will attempt to eliminate handguns, semis and pump actions IF they were elected as a compromise to eliminating the long gun registry if the Conservatves don't deal with the issue. Stay Tuned.
Take Care
Bob
Whether we like it or not we live in a regulated society. I know there is a limit as to what we are prepared to accept BUT one only has to look at New Orleans, post Katrina, to see what we are capable of when civil authority breaks down. One has to measure the common good vs individual rights and the degree of deminishing returns and by enlarge I think that balance is maintained (Seat Belts, Anti Smoking, and Bike Helmuts).
Back in the 1950's the Alberta government proposed to put pictures on drivers license and we had, at the time, a hew and cry sufficient to have the Alberta Gov't rescind the proposal. A decade later the proposal passed without so much as a wimper.
The Gun Registry went through with little outcry from the general public and only when the costs became outrageous did any significant pressure come to eliminate the long gun registry. I would suggest despite our lobby efforts it is the shear cost of maintaining, what the public now perceives as a waste of money, the long gun registry is the reason why it will one day be eliminated. I doubt even the Liberals will make a significant attempt at stopping it's destruction. I also think the Liberals will attempt to eliminate handguns, semis and pump actions IF they were elected as a compromise to eliminating the long gun registry if the Conservatves don't deal with the issue. Stay Tuned.
Take Care
Bob
