By Letter to the Editor on April 5, 2018.
Justin Trudeau promised he would fix the crime problem during the election campaign of 2015. Unfortunately lawful gun owners of Canada make easy targets for an easy Liberal crime control fix. C-71 targets the lawful firearm owner, leaving out the criminal use of firearms. Not a single line in the Act refers to violent criminals or their illegal misuse of firearms. The $2-billion Liberal gun registry has taught the Liberal Party absolutely nothing. C-71 repeats Liberals’ logic on gun control: leave violent criminals alone, irritate the lawful firearm owner, and pretend they have fulfilled the Liberal election promise. A very undemocratic move by this bill is giving the RCMP total authority to ban firearms without any legislative or committee oversight. Our elected MPs will have no say even if the RCMP mistakenly prohibit or restrict firearms. We all know that violent crimes have steadily fallen to its lowest point over the last 20 years. Criminal gang use of firearms have steadily increased over the same period. Yet when liberals come up with new crime legislation, they always attack the millions of lawful firearm owner. Canada’s lawful firearm community has proven to be a very low risk when it come to misuse. Over the last 30 years governments have wasted many billions on trying to solve a problem that isn’t there. Maybe it’s time to attack the real problem, which is the criminal misuse of firearms, and leave the lawful firearm owner alone. I close by asking lawful firearm owners to call your MP, write letters, sign petitions opposing this unnecessary bill C-71. Inky Mark Dauphin, Man. 8