Canadian Prime Minister Talking Tough with U.S. on Gun Control

Written by Daniel White

Tuesday, 25 October 2005 18:22

Submitted by Tom McNaughton

An interesting article appeared in today's edition of the Toronto Star. I cannot begin to comprehend the possible issues of international law and politics this , although several suggestions for what Condoleezza Rice ought to reply come to mind. It is rather amusing that Canada, having totally failed in its own billion (Canadian) dollar attempt at firearms registration, now seeks to force the U.S. to take the same sad path.

From the article:

Guns are Prime Minister Paul Martin's newest target in what seems to be a deliberate and continuing attempt to take some careful pokes at the United States.

Following on his increasingly hot rhetoric on the Canada-U.S. softwood dispute and vague hints about using precious oil as a bargaining chip in the trade wars, Martin is now making clear that his government is going to draw a line with the United States on guns as well.

Of course, in all fairness we should recognize that Canada is quite consistent in its disarmament policies. They have started by disarming their own military and their own citizens. Unfortunately, the more they restrict their ability to defend themselves, both personally and nationally, the more they will be at the mercy of both homegrown and international criminals.

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"There is an estimate by the police that up to 50 per cent of the gun crimes in Canada are done by people with guns obtained in large part illegally from the United States," Martin told an Ottawa news conference yesterday as he outlined his government's still-developing plans to get tough on firearms crime.

It would be interesting to see the scientific methods the police used in their investigation that determined half of the illegal guns came from the United States. But I suspect that, like is often the case, this is simply a case of placing the blame elsewhere, rather than accepting the truth that banning guns does nothing to reduce crime.

Click here to read the rest of the article.