If you want to raise the hackles of Canadian farmers, hunters, and trappers just mention the long gun registry. I have watched with biased interest over the past several weeks as we edged closer to the vote and what I saw was just plain ugly. In the end the vote was no longer about the long gun registry; it was about fear. Nobody was concerned with the facts and from the numerous articles and posts that I've read far too many Canadians are completely unaware of just how tightly firearms are controlled in Canada, even without the registry.
There are two extremist camps in the fight and neither one wants to see the registry live. On one side you have the anti gun, anti hunting, animal rights types whose objective it is to see all guns in Canada confiscated and firearms ownership made illegal. On the other side you have the gun lobby who feels that we should have the American right to bear arms. What you saw during the debates leading up to the vote was these two groups firing missiles at each other. If you listened closely to the rhetoric you would think that the survival of the human race hung in the balance.
And the media, always hungry for a controversial issue to latch onto was no better. Stories were written in newspapers and aired on TV and radio. Objectivity – the foundation of good reporting – ceased to exist as reporters were forced to follow the personal views of their editors and producers.
Everyone that was opposed to the registry was classed as a fanatical right wing Conservative. I suggest that the only link to Conservatives for a vast majority of those in favor of shutting down the registry is in the fact that the Conservative Party were the ones to bring forth and support the bill. Personally I am non partisan and vote in favor of good legislation, no matter what party brings it forward, but I simply cannot abide "feel good / do nothing" legislation. This was bad legislation when it was first introduced, it is bad legislation now, and it will continue to be bad legislation until the day that it is finally scrapped.
©2010 Lloyd Fridenburg – All rights reserved click here for copyright permissions
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