scooter
04-09-2009, 10:32 AM
Winnipeg Sun - April 4, 2009
Feeding the gun registry frenzy By JOSEPH QUESNEL http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/2009/04/04/9006341.html#/comment/2009/04/
04/pf-9000731.html
After police confiscated more than 103 weapons recently at a home in London, Ontario, it will not be long before the public gets worked up into a gun control frenzy fuelled by inaccurate information and prejudice against firearms.
Of course, the reporter from the London Free Press who wrote the story had to highlight the numbers of guns. But, does this reporter realize that he is feeding into more hysteria about guns and is unnecessarily demonizing all gun collectors who may possess larger collections for the sake of scandal?
Of course, I say this facetiously, as most reporters do not consider the long range impact of their stories.
I also want to pre-empt this case from being manipulated by agenda-driven opposition politicians or misguided social scientists, out to defend the useless federal gun registry.
Police in London seized 90 rifles and 13 handguns from the home of a 65-year-old man after responding to a report about an unregistered semi-automatic handgun. It was not long before police blamed the victim for what could happen to the weapons in the hands of third parties.
"Many of these weapons were lawfully registered," Det.-Supt. Ken Heslop said, to the reporter. "He's a gun collector. But this is a public safety issue. This is an example of the types of firearms in the community we don't know about. If there was ever a break-in at that home and the guns were stolen, they'd be out in the community and on the street and we'd know nothing about them."
Before I continue, I will provide more details.
Most of the weapons seized in this collection were registered. Second, all of the weapons and ammunitions were improperly stored. Thus, this seizure did not arise out of the blue and the collector involved may have committed some serious offences. I am not arguing that he should be let off, as storage can lead to unnecessary accidents. I am saying that the police and the public should not try to create a "public safety issue" where there really isn't one at all.
In fact, evidence points to the registration process as creating the only public safety risk involved.
According to information from the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, there were 306 documented illegal breaches of the national police database between 1995 and 2003. Of these, 121 were never solved, as of the writing.
What is more likely is that having so much firearm information stored in one place places gun collectors in jeopardy and would pose more of a risk to the public. It is also a myth that weapons used in crimes are obtained from gun collectors, as the vast majority of recovered weapons were smuggled.
It is also the case that much of the ammunition seized is from the Second World War era and many of the handguns were weird, collector specimens, not street weapons.
Before listening to scandal-driven reporters or even the police, people should get their facts straight about firearms and not attack legal collectors.
Feeding the gun registry frenzy By JOSEPH QUESNEL http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/2009/04/04/9006341.html#/comment/2009/04/
04/pf-9000731.html
After police confiscated more than 103 weapons recently at a home in London, Ontario, it will not be long before the public gets worked up into a gun control frenzy fuelled by inaccurate information and prejudice against firearms.
Of course, the reporter from the London Free Press who wrote the story had to highlight the numbers of guns. But, does this reporter realize that he is feeding into more hysteria about guns and is unnecessarily demonizing all gun collectors who may possess larger collections for the sake of scandal?
Of course, I say this facetiously, as most reporters do not consider the long range impact of their stories.
I also want to pre-empt this case from being manipulated by agenda-driven opposition politicians or misguided social scientists, out to defend the useless federal gun registry.
Police in London seized 90 rifles and 13 handguns from the home of a 65-year-old man after responding to a report about an unregistered semi-automatic handgun. It was not long before police blamed the victim for what could happen to the weapons in the hands of third parties.
"Many of these weapons were lawfully registered," Det.-Supt. Ken Heslop said, to the reporter. "He's a gun collector. But this is a public safety issue. This is an example of the types of firearms in the community we don't know about. If there was ever a break-in at that home and the guns were stolen, they'd be out in the community and on the street and we'd know nothing about them."
Before I continue, I will provide more details.
Most of the weapons seized in this collection were registered. Second, all of the weapons and ammunitions were improperly stored. Thus, this seizure did not arise out of the blue and the collector involved may have committed some serious offences. I am not arguing that he should be let off, as storage can lead to unnecessary accidents. I am saying that the police and the public should not try to create a "public safety issue" where there really isn't one at all.
In fact, evidence points to the registration process as creating the only public safety risk involved.
According to information from the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, there were 306 documented illegal breaches of the national police database between 1995 and 2003. Of these, 121 were never solved, as of the writing.
What is more likely is that having so much firearm information stored in one place places gun collectors in jeopardy and would pose more of a risk to the public. It is also a myth that weapons used in crimes are obtained from gun collectors, as the vast majority of recovered weapons were smuggled.
It is also the case that much of the ammunition seized is from the Second World War era and many of the handguns were weird, collector specimens, not street weapons.
Before listening to scandal-driven reporters or even the police, people should get their facts straight about firearms and not attack legal collectors.