Political parties the world over will always pander to public opinion, even if those opinions are uninformed and biased towards a small but vocal portion of the population. Gun control is one of those areas. It's easy to penalize law abiding gun owners but much harder to actually deal with the issues of gun crime and trafficking in illegal guns.

The Liberal party (and NDP) want to take the cheap road and appeal to the uninformed by taking guns away from law abiding citizens in order to make the scared populace feel better. The reality is that it will have no effect on gun crime.

Recently Air Canada instituted a "gun Handling Fee". The $50CAD charge applies to all guns carried across Canada or on international flights.

Viewed from the most optimistic point of view this is a cash grab. In my opinion, from a realists viewpoint it is discrimination against gun owners. They seem unrepentant, as if anyone carrying a gun is clearly inconveniencing their other passengers.

The doomsday provision
Oct 19, 2005
by John Stossel

Guns are dangerous. But myths are dangerous, too. Myths about guns are very
dangerous, because they lead to bad laws. And bad laws kill people.

"Don't tell me this bill will not make a difference," said President
Clinton, who signed the Brady Bill into law.

Sorry. Even the federal government can't say it has made a difference. The
Centers for Disease Control did an extensive review of various types of gun
control: waiting periods, registration and licensing, and bans on certain
firearms. It found that the idea that gun control laws have reduced violent

I have just read and signed the online petition:

"A Petition For Full Disclosure of All Expenditures Under the Federal Gun Registry - Canada"

hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FGRC0001/

I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider
signing yourself.

September 7, 2005

OTTAWA (CP) - In what has become a familiar refrain, the Canada Firearms Centre has once again quietly put off several gun regulations that were supposed to take effect this month. Among the measures delayed until next year is a provision to have police forces across Canada register all their weapons - including seized guns - with the federal agency. New rules governing gun shows have been deferred until November 2006, while regulations that would force gun-makers to identify all firearms with internationally recognized markings won't come into force until the end of 2007.

Looks like the government's intentions to disarm Canada's populace are alive and well in Manitoba. In a press release today, Manitoba's government is asking its citizens to voluntarily surrender any weapons under a firearms amnesty during the month of June.

"Manitobans wanting to dispose of unwanted or illegal weapons have the month of June to make arrangements with local police to pick up the items."

How do you like that? Great idea. Who do they think will take advantage of this? Of course law-abiding victims scared of the guns left behind by their late husband will take advantage of it. I really can't see criminals taking advantage of this. In fact, the press release gives ample reason to not make use of the amnesty:

An early morning home break-in turned potentially deadly after the intruder was shot by a teenager whose father was being attacked, police
said.

The man was seriously wounded after being shot with a .22-calibre rifle, but the injury is not considered life-threatening. Police would not say where on his body the burglar was shot.

The incident began when the father heard an intruder at about 3 a.m. yesterday. He went to investigate and was attacked, police said.

"He was seriously assaulted, he suffered injuries to his neck and head and needed attention at the hospital," said Const. Harry Rawluk of the Ontario Provincial Police in Huntsville.

“Customs officers wasting millions and manpower tracking law-abiding gun owners and hasn’t even done a risk assessment or cost-benefit analysis.”

Ottawa – Today (May 13, 2005), Saskatchewan M.P. Garry Breitkreuz, the Conservative Firearms Critic, released more documents that once again demonstrate the Liberal’s misplaced public safety priorities. In a letter to the Canada Firearms Centre (CFC), the Head of Customs Contraband, Intelligence and Investigations wrote: “As a result of the new import requirements, a sizable workload is being generated that the CBSA must manage solely for the purposes of the Firearms Act. Over the past 3 years, we have documented more than 251,000 non-residents with firearms traveling in transit or coming into Canada for legal sporting purposes, and have collected more that $11.2M in fees on behalf of the CFC. During this same period, close to $7.6M was spent on the delivery of the firearms program of which only $5.2M was recovered from the CFC.”

HOUSE OF COMMONS
38th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
Order Paper and Notice Paper No. 97
Thursday, May 12, 2005

QUESTIONS
Q-1502 — May 11, 2005 — Mr. Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville) — With respect to the implementation of sections 35, 37 and 40 of the Firearms Act by the Canada Border Services Agency: (a) how many person-years have been allocated to this activity for the fiscal year 2004-2005; (b) how many person-years will be allocated for each of the next five fiscal years; (c) what is the total amount that has been spent for the fiscal year 2004-2005; (d) what is the total amount that will be allocated for each of the next five fiscal years; (e) what activities does the implementation of these sections entail; and (f) what are the potential risks to public safety and national security resulting from the diversion of human and financial resources from activities such as the pursuit of smugglers, terrorists, illegal immigrants, illegal guns, drugs, explosives, and other contraband?