It is unlikely that the air force ever taught conservative leader Erin O’Toole anything about weapons. Navigators mostly stick to the mathematics of figuring out where they are and why they are lost. In fact, based on his recent flip-flops on gun control, I would assume O’Toole knows very little about weapons. Even as a former military weapons specialist, I would be lost in today’s different forms of assault rifles, semi and fully automatic weapons.
What I do know is that they all have one purpose. They are designed to kill and maim as many of the opposing force as possible. They are not for shooting at game animals or birds. They make a hell of a mess of targets if you can hold the weapon steady. And they do make an interesting souvenir, if made permanently inoperable.
Yet, back when the wife and I were raising a family we would never allow a weapon of any type in our home. And I have never seen a need for one since.
But Mr. O’Toole seems to be carrying a brief for the gun lobby. His flip-flops on guns have been puzzling. He started out with a simple statement in his policy booklet that he would not change the liberal government’s ban on some 1500 assault rifles. That was fine. It could even be considered commendable for a conservative.
Mid campaign, he decides to revise his policy. There is now a caveat on the ban. O’Toole tells reporters that, if he is prime minister, he would have a public policy review of firearms classifications. And it would be non-political, as he wants to get the politicians out of controlling firearms.
I can not think of anything stupider than anyone other than politicians making the final decisions on firearms. They make rules on our behalf.
I would not want survivalists to rule on it. They are the ones crazy enough to want to have assault rifles.
Though, I hardly want anyone to take the varmint rifles away from farmers and ranchers. They need them sometimes.
It is a subject that requires the use of common sense. I would like to think our politicians are capable of that.
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Copyright 2021 © Peter Lowry
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