Since Toronto is usually on the leading edge of simplistic, socialist policies, it’s in everyone’s best interest to pay attention to David Miller’s proposed ban on guns and recreational gun clubs – or as the National Post calls him, "the ignorant demagogue" who became "mayor of Canada’s biggest city…"
Decreeing bans seems to be the preferred plan of action with left-leaning politicians – If you ban it, it is done.
But not quite. Because as the Post editorial points out, this experiment failed badly in Britain:
In Britain, after the tragic 1996 elementary school shootings at Dunblane, Scotland, all private handgun ownership was banned and all handguns confiscated. Even England’s Olympic shooters, for a time, were forced to shuttle across the Channel to France for practice. Since then, though, New Scotland Yard and the Home Office estimate that the inventory of illegal handguns in Britain has expanded by three million. Gun crime has nearly doubled. And many cities now have more gun crime than comparable U. S. cities. Police refer to Manchester as Gunchester.
Yes, heaven forbid that David Miller should actually try to face the problem square on with increased police patrols in problem areas, and perhaps recognize the special challenges of certain ethnic communities that seem to have accepted a lack of paternal responsibility as the norm.
But what this knee-jerk problem-solving technique really does is hurt the law-abiding private citizens that actually follow the rules. People like reader Lisa , whose family is directly affected by this nonsensical approach by His Blondness . Lisa has a great post up today about this issue and some of her family members have been interviewed by the Star .
Sadly, today there was another fatal shooting outside a Toronto school, and you can bet David Miller will be using this latest incident as further evidence that Toronto should be jumping on the gun BAN dwagon.
Because political correctness demands that you never really face the problems. – you just make sure you are seen to be making decisions – even if they’re just bandaids that can’t possibly stop all the hemorrhaging of human life.
- And worse yet if you place those bandaids over your eyes, you can’t see the real problems.
* * * *
Thursday Update : Getting on the ban wagon – Michael Den Tandt (Sun):
…Mayor David Miller wants all guns banned. Also he would outlaw gun-making, ammunition, and target-pistol ranges. It doesn’t matter to him that most gun crime in Toronto is perpetrated by criminals, wielding illegally-obtained handguns. Guns are bad. Ban them…
Friday Update : This is definitely worth a read – Toronto wonders what’s happening to the tourists by Girl on the Right.
[...] Hobby Shooting is not Terrorism Posted on May 28, 2008 by starbursidereus [Edit: as featured on FARK.com] [Edit: as featured on Blue Like You.com] [...]
Thanks for posting this, Jo. This mayor must be stopped!
My pleasure, Lisa. Perhaps recreational gun enthusiasts need to get organized. It’s about freedom, and we have precious few left these days.
at some point we, the people, disregard the u.s. reference, will have to put the idiots we elect in the proper place. for those of you who are unaware of that place it is where we want them to be. they are to enact leglistation based on what we want, not special interest groups dictate. the supreme court is to interpret law not make it. the only thing pierre elliot twadles did that saves us from his constitution is the not withstanding clause. so far only quebec has chosen to use it . the rest of canada will soon have to do so. as for guns. keep them. do not register them. and when necessary defend youself with thgem.
Gun owners are rightly pissed off about this, and have started a website in response:
http://www.torontothebad.com
what is it with the left and their incessant need to ban things? Seriously. Do they honestly think that once banned they cease to exist?
And do they honestly think that people who have not trouble breaking the law by shooting and murdering someone is going to comply with a handgun ban??? I’m guessing that a gang member is not really going to cower and be afraid to fire a handgun because Mayor Miller said so.
Yikes. My primary aged children have greater logic than him
An American perspective…..
By JB Williams..
The Second Amendment Under Fire.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2363
Sample…
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the matter of “gun control” in the District of Columbia, many Americans understand that the issue is
about “control” not “guns.”
It’s no secret that guns in the hands of law abiding
citizens threaten only those seeking control over
those citizens, be they criminal or over-reaching
government.
It’s also no secret that no law will keep guns out of
the hands of criminals, who by definition don’t care
what any law says.
Is there a message hidden in the fact that the cities
with the strongest gun control laws also have the
highest violent crime rates in our nation?
The District of Columbia itself, along with a few
other well-known bastions of liberal logic like New
York City, which have the strongest gun control laws
in the country, also still have the highest violent
crime rates in the country. Taking guns away from
their citizens has done nothing to discourage the
criminals.
It might even encourage criminal activity, or so the
stats would indicate.
How can one seriously claim that taking guns away
from law abiding citizens will in any way make the
community safer, when all the statistics say quite
the opposite? Is it coincidence or poetic justice
that the most “controlled” cities in the country are
also the most dangerous?
…………………………………
It’s a long read but well worth it, has a good section explaining the motives of the (Framers)
of the American Constitution and ((why they thought
citizens should be armed.))
The logic of Thomas Jefferson and others 200+ years ago are still potent and hard to beat.
tori…I seriously doubt that they have thought this thru the way you have.I doubt they see, or expect results. It was described on another site as ‘having the appearance’ of solving problems.The socialist elite refuse to see the problem as in individual flaw. It must be dealt with en mass…because no one is really ‘bad’.Individual responsibility is denied and avoided, and even excused. I sense pressure from an elitist group in Toronto …perhaps the university crowds, the beaurocracy that is out of touch, or just the Maude Barlows.
There is a bubble syndrome in Toronto, complete with delusions of grandeur.No one from outside the bubble counts or has any credibility.
The national Post has it right. Miller is a demagogue. he has no interest in solving this issue. Just a facile answer.
I have said for many years that a gun ban is stupid. The way to stop crime is with mandatory prison terms. If someone brandishes a weapon in the commission of a crime, there should be a minimum sentence of 5 years with additional time for the seriousness of the crime. No eligibility for early parole, no reduction for time served. Once we start showing that we are serious about punishing violent crime, and start doing the punishing, maybe the criminals will get the lesson that they can’t just continue doing what they have been doing. And,,,,, if they do continue, they won’t be out on the street for a long time to do it to us anyway.
Too simple for a leftist to understand I guess.
Check out the frightening ban talk at York U. They students federation wants to ban any anti abortion groups from being allowed on campus in any form. (And they decided to push this after all of the students had left for the summer, but at the same time claiming majority support) No matter how you feel about the issue, I find it distressing that the quality of young people in university has dropped so low. Maybe it’s time to raise the voting age to 25 or so, unless you avoided University and are already a net taxpayer.
Thanks for mentioning that, Greg. It gives me a chance to highlight one of my favourite new blogs – The Girl in Blue, who has covered this one.
2010, guys—2010. Mark this in your calendars, November of that year remember to kick out Mayor Miller out of office. The groundwork of making that a possiblity should start now. While we’re at it, the groundwork should made in also getting rid of the socialist councillor cronies of Miller too. Then, and only then Toronto can and will be welcomed to the 21st century.
Felix, you might be interested in this article.
“Decreeing bans seems to be the preferred plan of action with left-leaning politicians”
Good point. I look forward to your future post recommending the legalization of Heroin and Cocaine. This is about freedom afterall.
I received a couple of comments here that are sitting in the comment moderation queue until I get a chance to read through them and decide whether or not I would get hauled in front of the CHRC if I allowed them to be published.
Until then, please remember to keep your comments as short as possible, with as little swearing as possible. Thanks.