I do not think Rockie meant all us firearms owners a morons. Only the ones who would disagree that firearms should not be in the hands of morons. I would agree with that, and that is what the licensing and laws are for.Rockie wrote:Read what I said again except take your time and do it carefully.Wasps rule wrote:I disagree. Looks to me like you called anyone who doesn't share your point of view either an idiot, a moron, or a crazy. In addition, the Swiss example doesn't support your argument, since it obviously puts more guns in the hands of private citizens.Rockie wrote:
less guns in the hands of idiots, morons and crazies = good
if don't agree with these equations then you are likely one of the idiots, morons or crazies.
Perhaps I put words in your mouth with my disarming rant but I will give you a chance to clarify. Would 10 less guns in Canada help you sleep better at night? Can you help me put a value on your "less guns" comment?
As regards the Swiss. Everyone who has one of the weapons you refer to is ex-military, or at least has military training, and they form a militia for the defense of Switzerland. That country if you recall is neutral. And they have had to vigorously defend that neutrality in the recent past while all out war raged all around them. Each weapon has been duly issued for one purpose only and it is strictly controlled. I have seen people riding down the street with their rifle slung on their back on the way to the range for practice. A weird sight for a Canadian to see. Who has what weapon is strictly controlled and fully constitutes a registry in the context of what we're talking about here. But you seem to think the Swiss army drives around town pushing rifles off the back of a truck. Try and get caught in Switzerland with an un-registered and illegal firearm and see how heavy the law can be.
Now, once more for people who still misunderstand me, here is my position on all this:
I do not advocate disarming anyone. Unless the individual is a risk to society by having a weapon then I most certainly do. Disagree with that point and, yes, you are an idiot.
As far as Switzerland, the citizens who own assault rifles are actually active military (militia), and you are right all the firearms are registered, unlike the Canadian military and police forces.
The regisrtry is an issue that will never be resolved. As said previously I have all my firearms registered and obey the laws. That does not mean I agree with it and am not concerned over what will happen in the future.
Just a couple of issues with the C-68 and the registry for you to chew on. Did you know that I could send a non-restricted firearm (with my ownership for that firearm) by Canada Post to someone with a PAL license in say....BC. I do not have to tell Canada Post I am shipping the firearm, or the Canadian Firearms centre it has changed locations. So if the individual who has received it has no firearms then as far as the government and Police know, there are no firearms there.
There is a magazine restriction of semi-automatic centre fire firearms. Five rounds for rifle and ten for handgun. The magazine restriction is on the magazine itself and not the firearm. So i can legally shoot a ten round pistol magazine in a rifle that receives the same type of magazine.
Bill C-68 has a provision in it allowing certain sport shooting groups to be exempt from the magazine restrictions. When groups like IPSC Canada (International Practical Shooting Confederation) applied for the exemption, the group was alienated and treated like some para military organization, and conversly denied the exemption. Canada lost the bid for the 2006 World IPSC shoot, because the government would not lift the magazine restriction for the event. So our teams that represent Canada at the worlds have to either purchase high capacity magazines outside of Canada and convert them to low capacity prior to entry into Canada. The other issue with this is that they look at a stage to shoot and plan when to change the magazines (usually on the move). It gets difficult when all year your changes are accounting for a ten round mag, and now you have sixteen or more.
This is not whining, we live with it, but it shows the overall attitude towards the firearms community. Alot of men and women I know do not want people to know the hunt or shoot, solely because they feel they will be frowned upon. I have hunted for 30 years, but until seven years ago, I just went with the flow. It was not until I got involved with various shooting sports, helping at Women's only weekends, etc... that I realized that there is a large group trying to take away our firearms one step at a time. It is not perceived, it is real, and the Liberal government is all for this. Mr Martin promising a ban on handguns, and resolution 43 banning semi-automatic firearms. As I said before they have since recalled resolution 43 after a large outcry from the firearms community. If they had stong enough polls they would not have removed it.
All firearms owners, have to realize that it is not just joe's AR15 that is on the chopping block, because it may well be uncle George's shot gun down the road. We are a firearms community, not communities. If you could care less about handguns, you should care that they are not banned, because there will be a next step. Just look at Australia.
Rockie, I repect your opinion and am grateful you do not see respondsible firearms ownership as an issue. But in the long run I am sure that you would not choose to vote against the Liberals because they want to ban semi-automatic firearms. You have other issues you feel are important and you personally could care less if they were banned. My personal experiences and views have been formed by looking at the big picture as well. The difference is that I have looked deep into this because I enjoy what I do very much, and do not want to loose the abilities I have.