Just for a couple minutes, we can assume that the coming federal election will create a government other than that controlled by the Conservative Party. And, if we are finished enjoying the thought after almost 10 years of the Conservatives, we know we have lots of work ahead of us. One area that we need to address is gun control. This problem has to be fixed. And one way to fix it is to look at the past.
The one thing that we know for sure is that there is a serious dichotomy between urban and rural voters on the issue. The argument is that farmers do not want to be bothered with red tape just to keep a varmint rifle. The people who want guns better controlled are the city folk. So why do we not just accommodate everybody? Do you remember the old western movies where the cowboys had to check their six-guns with the town marshal? And that is the answer: make it a municipal option.
Canada should have a gun registry for only those municipalities that want to use it. The people who use these registries are the police. The police could say to the local council, “We want to use the registry and the feds will pay for it.” Can you imagine any municipality east of Regina that would say “No.” And people can fill out the forms and pay a fee on the Internet.
It would only take one serious gun incident to convince municipalities to cooperate. Most would be smart not to wait.
Now there is a deal, nobody can refuse. The signs coming into town say “Welcome to our town, check your gun podner at the nearest police station.” And if you do not and are caught with an unregistered weapon, you can be found guilty of an offence.
There will have to be some adjustments to Public Safety Minister Stephen Blaney’s proposed bill on the transport of firearms. Gun owners moving their licensed gun from one place to another would need to be in the registry rather than run afoul of a municipality that requires guns to be registered.
Mind you the only way this is going to work is if urban voters make it clear to their Members of Parliament that they want better control and registration of guns in their community. All there needs to be are people to speak up.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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