Dear Editor,
This is some clarification to MP Will Amos’s response to Caleb Nickerson regarding this piece of legislation.
Let’s be 100 per cent honest about what this bill really is and what it means to the thousands of voting gun owners, hunters and farmers in the Pontiac region.
He’s right, crime and gang activity is on the rise, especially in the last 2.5 years. Bill C-71 isn’t about that however. The words crime, gang, violence etc. do not even appear in the bill at all. Registrar appears 16 times, registration appears 17 and records appears 33 times.
This bill is not designed to have any impact on crime, gangs or violence, it’s sole purpose is to impose further restrictions on Canada’s most vetted citizens – gun owners. Even more off-base is Amos’ claim that preventing suicide is a driving factor in this bill … with hanging being the most preferred method by men and poisoning by pills the method women most use. Hiding behind the claim that this very distant third measure will be impacted is a farce. Not to mention he leaves out any information regarding the rate of substitution of methods, which is nearly 100 per cent. The attempt to claim this as a reason for tabling C-71 is disingenuous at best, if not harmful.
Law enforcement will indeed have access to all store records, creating a national registry-which the Liberals still claim they are not doing. Sec. 101-105 of the Firearms Act clearly state this. This bill also removes any government oversight of the RCMP classification system which as we have seen in the past, is open to interpretation and riddled with mistakes — hence the reason no private citizen has access to the Firearms Reference Table.
Imagine, a government willingly handing over the ability to law enforcement to decide what is legal and what is not, with nobody keeping an eye on them. We are still waiting for details on how the Liberals intend to “fight crime and gangs.” Multiple promises of hundreds of millions of your tax dollars yet not one document stating if this has been done and who got it. Maybe the well has run dry from the extravagant spending.
This bill is nothing more than a feeble attempt to appear to be doing something when they failed to actually implement one measure to make Canadians safer in this short election cycle at the expense of hunters and sport shooters.
Let’s all remember this when it’s time to vote in 2019. You can find me at my hunt camp in Clarendon, or online.
Tracey Wilson, V.P. of Public Relations
Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights
Ottawa, Ont.
