Criminals haven’t been affected by bans
By Lethbridge Herald on December 14, 2024.
Editor:
I have been interested in firearms my entire life. From the very first time I shot tin cans with a .22 on the farm with my dad I was hooked. It has been a lifelong passion of mine to learn, and share with all those I can. I have been a member or served on the board of directors for LFGA, CCSC, IPSC AB, SAFE, SST, and likely a dozen other shooting sports organizations over the decades. I am a CFSC Proctor, as well as an IPSC AB/NROI Canada Black Badge Instructor. Not only that, but I have been a firearm retailer as my main source of income for over a decade.
While I understand that those not in the firearm community, may not understand all the acronyms that I just rattled off, the point was that I have been deeply involved in this community for most of my life. In the process have met the friendliest, most welcoming, reliable, helpful, genuine and trustworthy people that exist. In that time I have not met one single violent, drug dealer, criminal, or thief in the group.
In May of 2020 our government changed all that. By the stroke of a pen, every single one of these highly vetted, respectable citizens was accused of being the problem, and even though they have done nothing, they were turned into criminals, simply for having the equipment needed to enjoy their sport. The equipment that they purchased legally, after taking safety courses, after being vetted by police and the very government that is now declaring them criminals.
This sweeping ban on firearms that started in May of 2020 has continued for the last few years to restrict and confiscate legally obtained firearms and discredit the safest segment of our country.
The most recent ban as of Dec. 5 simply adds to this.
In all of our governments “efforts” to reduce violent crime, they have only served to create paper criminals and have not once told us how they are expect to stop firearms from getting into the hands of the real criminals.
Not one criminal has been affected by these bans. They never had a license, they were never vetted by the RCMP, they received no safety training. The guns they bought were brought into the country illegally, they were purchased illegally once in the country and they are carried and used illegally. None of these laws changed that. It serves no beneficial purpose to spend billions of our tax dollars “buying back” firearms from those that were never a threat to anyone. It simply serves to placate those that are uneducated about the real problem and don’t understand the true situation.
As of today, not a single person is safer because of these laws, and not a single crime will be prevented because of them.
I urge anyone reading this to please, inform yourself on the issue. Write to your local politicians and media and express your concerns. It’s never been about the guns, it’s simply about control.
Nicholas Burnham
Lethbridge
13-12
Of course it’s about guns. Admittedly , many are of the illegal variety , but still, attempting to control the overwhelming number of weapons many of which have the potential to mow down a herd of elk or indeed humans, that have now found their way onto this country’s landscape is a good thing. No one is accusing any of your associates of being criminals but restricting certain weapons alongside more effective efforts aimed at smuggling and gang activity is I think, supported by a majority of well informed and practical Canadians .
It is not a cure all for violent crimes , far from it , but a responsible government – any particular persuasion of government, must enact some form of control. Assault rifles of any kind should not be a part of the landscape, rural or urban. Contrary to some political opinions , the legislation is not “taking away all your guns”, restricting certain ones maybe.
Not all drivers are dangerous speed freaks, not everyone drives over the alcohol limit, but we are all subject to speeding tickets and check stops. They , like gun, control are a small price to pay to enhance public safety.
A police officer friend was hunting Antelope in Southern Alberta years ago. He was up on a hill watching a herd and trying to figure out how to get closer to them. A truck drove up with a driver and two guys in the back. He drove into the herd and the two guys opened fire killing four of them and wounding three others. A few minutes later two RCMP officers drove up and arrested all of them. My friend drove down to give the officers his name if they wanted him to appear in court as a witness. They didn’t need him, his partner had filmed it all. Bill was thrilled.
Wow, it seems that the NRA has arrived in full force. You know, these pages are supposed to be a medium for useful dialogue and it’s so easy to cast a negative or positive for someone because of a disagreement , but seemingly following a well orchestrated attempt to express an opinion with nothing of use to say, is quite amusing and rather sad. Disagree by all means but if you have something to say , say it rather than hiding by a pointless number.
Well another “-1”. Care to say “Why?”
up top you may have set a herald record for downvotes on one entry lol
perhaps, seeing as you equated driving enforcement to gun enforcement, many came to feel that there was a time when revolver in the glove box was more than enough to deal with bad drivers…however, to those, it may now seem a semi automatic is needed to deal with all the bad drivers 🙂
Nope, lost by two votes to FC below 😢
Over the years several lawyers have asked me why I waste my time on these idiots. I never used to until they almost killed my father with Klein’s healthcare cuts even after my late parents and two sisters spent countless hours volunteering for the Lougheed and Getty governments. A brother in-law voluntarily flew the government plane for them and never got paid a dime and Lougheed’s energy minister Bill Dickie was a brother in-law of one of my uncles and dad donated around $30,000.to the Alberta Conservative Party over the years. We were all proud conservatives. Knowing how furious the conservative MLAs we knew were with what Klein was doing and having known Ralph Klein since 1960 and knowing what a jerk he was I felt a need to warn people about him and what a farce that’s been the idiots won’t listen but it does bring them out in the open so young Albertans can read their stupid comments at least that’s what I hope. The fact is the lunatics have won and the financial mess they have created has been dumped onto the backs of our children as grandchildren and these idiots don’t care.
When Klein was trying to become premier his mother Flo told my mother that she didn’t think he was capable of running this province properly and he certainly didn’t. Knowing that his mother, father and daughter didn’t support him along with our family we thought people would listen to us that’s how stupid we were. Albertans apparently don’t want to see their children and grandchildren treated properly like Alaskan and Norweigans do, do they? They aren’t that smart.
haha! we need our humour now more than ever 🙂
Great comments. As my Conservative friends point out these are “Proud Gun Toting Rural Alberta Red Neck Hillbilly Geniuses who support the word Conservative and aren’t smart enough to understand what these Reformers have done to them. Ralph Klein treated them like morons and they had nothing but praise for him, and nothing has changed. Beef Producers let him help the Packing Plants cheat them out of millions of dollars by flooding the markets with cattle in a very short time. Gave them the highest power bills in Canada, the highest property taxes, allowed the oil industry to render their land worthless with abandon oil wells, allowed the oil industry to ignore the taxes they owe to their Towns , putting them in a financial mess, gave them the highest vehicle registration fees, the vehicle insurance premiums and the list goes on and on.
As one beef producer said to me “ I can’t believe how stupid my friends and relatives are. It doesn’t matter what Klein does to us they continue to support him. I’ve got fence posts that are smarter than them”.
Even the guys in our seniors group who grew up on farms can’t believe how stupid they are. These Reformers certainly do, they can do anything they want to them and they don’t care and that’s why Danielle Smith went to them to get elected she knows how stupid they are.
You can bet they will support Reformer Pierre Poilievre and let him really destroy them by taking their Public Healthcare System away like these Reformers have always wanted to do. Attacking Rural Albertans medical services has been a major target but they aren’t even smart enough to understand that. They ignore the fact that Lethbridge has a huge shortage of doctors even though Alberta is the richest province in Canada and should have more than enough money to treat them properly like Lougheed did.
Next, Danielle will legislate an AR-15 in every home. Defend our border (with BC) from progressive governance. Create a vigilante militia to protect (water) pipelines from environmentalists and shifty-eyed immigrants. Expand the elementary school curriculum to include marching on parade to the anthems of Mart Kenney.
While these Reform Party fools who are so proud of their American Republican pals want us to follow them and give us all the right to bear arms my American Relatives have been trying to get it stopped for years. The idiots who believe it won’t let them. It was actor Charlton Heston who wanted all teachers armed that’s how stupid they are.
haha!
I wonder who Nicolas thinks he’s fooling. For 66 years I had a hunting licence and most of my hunting partners over the years have been lawyers and police officers and anyone’s I talk to, including hunters, agree with what Trudeau is trying to do and it’s not the lies Canadians are being fed. There is nothing wrong with eliminating guns that aren’t legal for hunting and can kill many people in a matter of seconds because of the huge amount of shells they hold.
While this fool Reformer Pierre Poilievre spreads the lie that Trudeau is trying to confiscate all their hunting guns that’s not true and the lawyers and police officers certainly know it.
I have a nephew who is a police officer in Surrey B.C. and his wife is an RCMP officer and they were in that crowd in Vegas where the mad man killed 60 people and wounded 400 others so you know what they think.
So while Nicolas wants you to believe these lies being spread and uses the excuse that it won’t stop criminals how does he know until it’s tried. I had lunch with a retired RCMP officer last week and he certainly supports Trudeau’s plan. We aren’t dumb enough to know that guns owned by responsible gun owners can’t be stolen and know the trigger locks being used on them is a joke and can be knocked off with a hammer.
The fewer guns available to the public the better, period. The death by gun rate in the US proves the point.
Exactly. When children are being gunned down in their classrooms and seniors in church or grocery stores, and these Reformers and Republicans don’t care there is something seriously wrong, and when a prime minister wants to try to do something about it I don’t care what Party he is from I’m on his side.
Assault type weapons have one purpose…to kill humans. Any claims that they are primarily for hunting animals or target shooting is full of crap. There are other less deadly weapons for those activities. We do need better enforcement to reduce the amount of illegal weapons getting into the country and more stringent penalties for those caught with these weapons.
You have nailed it. Soldiers leaving the war in Vietnam were furious when they found out that these Assault Rifles were being sold in war surplus stores as used rifles. They knew they shouldn’t be in the hands of fools who shouldn’t have them. It was assault rifles the guys were stock piling at Coutts to kill police officers we were told.
The other thing most police officers agree on, some don’t, is gun registration to trace guns when a crime is committed with one. They think Harper was a fool for destroying it after it was set up and the majority of the money spent when it could have been carried on at a very little cost to gun owners and every gun owner I knows agrees.