aka_tom_w Posted October 10, 2000 Share Posted October 10, 2000 This has nothing to do with CM, but some you might find this interesting. This article REALLY steams me. I'm not sure if you will find this funny or jsut outragous but in Canada this is now what you have to do if you ALREADY own a gun. You must vountarily submit to a federal licensing program to keep it and buy bullets. (never mind go through the beaurocratic night mare of trying to purchase one legally) Please read this and see if this is not the craziest thing you ahve ever heard off?? -In Canada- The gun registry wants your secrets Donna Laframboise National Post http://www.nationalpost.com/ I recently received a flyer in the mail reminding me Oct. 15 is the deadline to apply for a federal firearms licence before the fee jumps from $10 to $60. We are now in phase one of Ottawa's massive gun registration project, and even people such as myself who own no guns and have no intention of ever buying any, need to secure such a licence. This is because, after the end of 2000, I won't be able to borrow one of my father's guns during the few days a year I spend tramping around the bush with him during hunting season, nor will a store sell me a box of shotgun shells for his Christmas stocking if I can't produce one. The fact I've passed a provincially administered firearms safety test and my provincial hunting licence is in good standing is irrelevant to our federal government. So down I went to the one and only firearms assistance office set up in our country's largest city. (After calling a 1-800 number, that is, since the flyer provides a street address, but no hours of operation. Had I turned up at 9 a.m., as others apparently had, it would have been a long wait until the doors opened at 11.) The office was a makeshift space, in the same building you apply for a passport. But while the passport office is manned by several employees, the firearms facility has a single harried clerk striving valiantly to do it all: snap Polaroids, verify identities against driver's licence photos, and ensure all relevant boxes are filled in on our signed forms. The poor guy would have to be Superman to move faster, yet despite his efforts, at 2 p.m. on a Thursday dozens of us waited in a line that stretched out the door and well down the hallway -- glancing at our watches, worrying about our parking meters expiring, wisecracking that we were glad we didn't have to stop at the bank next. Whatever the feds are spending that half billion dollars on in this drive to keep track of law-abiding hunters, it sure isn't on frontline staff or office supplies. The day I was there, there wasn't even an extra pen to be had. Despite the fact the form we're required to submit doesn't bother to record whether we've passed a firearms safety test, it's extraordinarily intrusive with respect to other matters. Have I, during the past two years, "experienced a divorce, a separation, a breakdown of a significant relationship, job loss or bankruptcy?" asks question 19f. Have I, during the past five years, "attempted suicide, or ... been diagnosed or treated by a medical practitioner for: depression, alcohol, drug or substance abuse; behavioural problems; or emotional problems" asks 19d. At the top of section 19, I'm advised that a "yes" to any of these questions "does not necessarily mean [my] application will be refused; it may lead to further examination." I see. So an acquaintance of mine, one of the sanest, calmest people I know, has to confess to some bureaucrat that he was laid off from his long-time job when the American parent company closed down Canadian operations earlier this year. What will happen after his application gets tossed into the red flag pile remains to be seen. Had I consulted a doctor concerning my grief over the recent death of a loved one I, too, would have been obliged to tell all to the feds. I can just imagine the surreal nature of the conversations that would have ensued once their "further examination" had commenced. If there's any scientific reason to believe such crude invasions of privacy can in any way predict unlawful behaviour, I'd love to hear about it. Instead, I suspect it will take no more than a single court challenge before this outrageous list of questions gets dismissed as prejudicial nonsense. Gun control advocates like to ask what the big deal is? Since everyone has to register their automobiles, they say, what's wrong with registering guns and those who use them? All right then, let's pursue that analogy. In this country, automobiles cause far more deaths than do firearms. People behaving irresponsibly behind the wheel are a danger to themselves as well as to others. So when are we going to start asking people applying for driver's licences about their emotional problems, job losses, divorces and bankruptcies? End of article tom w opines... Can you believe this CRAP!? I wish I lived in the land of the free and the home of the brave where some States have COOL mottos like "Live Free or Die" and where just wanting to legally own a gun is not a crime in its self. -tom w [This message has been edited by aka_tom_w (edited 10-10-2000).] [This message has been edited by aka_tom_w (edited 10-10-2000).] [This message has been edited by aka_tom_w (edited 10-10-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannheim Tanker Posted October 10, 2000 Share Posted October 10, 2000 Come now, Tom. You should realize by now that the government knows best! We're not far behind Canada at our current rate of legislation. I believe that there are already 3 federal laws, 2 state laws, and 4 local ordinances on anything you can possibly do. ------------------ "Gun damaged are rare on Shermans because they die like red shirts on Star Trek" - Slapdragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyShot Posted October 10, 2000 Share Posted October 10, 2000 To each his own I guess, doesn't bother me a bit. I just had to do the same thing to renew my driver's license - and the author's attempts to dispell the "myth" that guns are more dangerous than cars doesn't quite succeed, IMHO. MW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankDawg Posted October 10, 2000 Share Posted October 10, 2000 Lock, lock, lock up this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannheim Tanker Posted October 10, 2000 Share Posted October 10, 2000 Why lock it up. Tankdawg? As long is it's clearly labeled OT, and there are no flames, there is no danger in expressing one's opinions. ------------------ "Gun damaged are rare on Shermans because they die like red shirts on Star Trek" - Slapdragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted October 10, 2000 Share Posted October 10, 2000 I'm closing this one up right away. Gun control topics that have popped in the past ALWAYS get the flames fanned within about 3 posts This is one of the few topics that never, ever discussed rationally when done in public. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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