I read an article in the paper today which I found truely annoying.
The Ontario government is considering an outright ban on handgun ammunition, with the exception of firing ranges and competition grounds, as a response to the recent gang shootings. Unfortunately, the general public does not understand what is involved in legally owning handguns in our country.
Before you can even get your PAL (Possession and Aquisition Licence), you must attend a firearms safety course. after the successful completion of this course, you must complete the Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety course. After that you must find three individuals which are willing to sign a statement, affirming that they have known the applicant for atleast three years (they cannot be relatives). One must be able to confirm that the individual in the photgraph attached to the application is accurate, for identification purposes, to identify the applicant. They all must confirm that the information provided by the applicant is true and correct, and that they know of no reason why the indiviual applicant should not own a firearm. Finally the applicant must give current addresses on all spouses (current or past), or common law partners they have lived with in the past two years. After all of that, you have to wait, atleast, 28 days before getting approval for your licence. This is due to police checks, etc.
Once you have gone through all of this, there is strict regulations on transportation of your restricted weapon (handgun). You must obtain a restricted firearms transportation certificate. This certificate restricts the hours, as to when you can transport your firearms, and the destination (example you may be restricted to transport your firearm to and from a registered firing range, between the hours of 10 am and 9 pm). To deviate from this is a criminal act. There are also regualtions that control the method by which you can transport your firearm.
Finally, before you can purchase any ammunition (handgun or otherwise) you must produce identification (most times two peices). This identification must include a valid PAL. Without proper identification, you cannot purchase ammunition.
My point with all of this is ... the regulations and laws are already in place ... simply start enforcing them. If new regulations need to be put in place, then start with placing tougher laws on the "Illegal firearms", and the people who use firearms in the commision of a crime. This is the only way that these types of violent crimes will be reduced. Stop punishing the legal firarms owner for the crimes committed by others.
DON'T BE FOOLLED BY THIS LIBERAL PLOY. THE LAWS ARE ALREADY THERE, THIS IS JUST AN EXCERCISE IN DISTRACTION. THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THESE CRIMES!
P.S. I should note that I'm not usually very "politically motivated", but this is attacking one of my hobbies. I promise to go back to "blogging" about nothing in the near future!
