You can't compare cars with guns. They are two entirely different things. Apples and oranges. But if you want, we can. People don't have the right to drive cars. It is a privilege. You get a license and you can lose it. You don't drive down the left side of the road. There are laws against it. You don't boogie at 250 KMH on the 407 because your car is capable of it. It is illegal. We have laws that govern driving vehicles.
I think its fair comparision because we aren't comparing the act of using a gun to the act of driving a car.. We are comparing the freedom of being able to do those things. The entire population would be safer if cars couldn't go over 100km/hr, but we don't take that freedom to do so away regardless of how many lives it would save, yet we take the freedom of gun ownership away from owners who follow the law in hopes it will reduce the illegal gun crime.
Why would a government want to ban a motorcycle? Perhaps if you ban motorcycles, you will get rid of the Hell's Angels, Outlaws, Rock Machine, Vagabonds, etc. Daniel Desrochers should have a say in that one. Would you stand by those guys? A government will enact laws to make sure people operate them safely to ensure they don't become a stat of road death. They won't be allowed to show their colours. No Patches.
Same qustion, why would the govenrment want to ban guns? Using motorcycles and guns raises your risk of death and injury.. So why ban guns but not motorcycles?
Banning motorcycles will not reduce the crime from biker gangs. Same as taking the guns away from legal gun owners will not reduce the amount of gun violence.
I woudn't stand beside someone who wants to have the freedom to run a organized motorcycle gang for the purpose of committing crime, but I woudl stand beside a motorcycle owner who doesn't commint crimes if the government is trying to take his motorcycle. Thats the same as I wouldn't stand beside a gang member when he won't give up his gun to the government, but I'll stand beside a person who owns guns and does not use them in crime and only uses them for the correct purposes within the law.
I agree a society needs some laws to protect the citizens and to a degree protect them from making bad decisions. I think these laws preventing someone from making a bad decision need to be geared towards people who don't have the maturity or mental capacity to make the best deicsions for themselves. An example of this is legal drinking ages and legal driving ages. But sadly, even when adults should be old enough to make the right decision (and live the with the conseuences of a bad decision), they don't always do so. Piling on laws on EVERYONE to protect these people who can't make good decisions for themselves is unfair to the adults who can make the right decisions. I think those ppl who can't make the right decision need better education when they are younger, but as an adult they need firmer pusnishments for making bad deicsions to prevent these bad decisions and allow adults who can make good decisions to have the freedom to do those things.
Imagine when you were younger, and on the playground at recess 5 kids are abusing a peice of playground equipement and putting themselves at risk.. Instead of taking the freedom of using that playground equpiement from those 5 kids, they just ban all 100 kids from it to prevent the bad kids from hurting themselves or others. That's a crock of shit for both the good kid and likewaise the good adults.
I have digressed a lot here because I feel the entire thing about gun laws is ridiculous. A gun ban is foolish. We can't ban guns and expect to eliminate gangs in Malvern from shooting each other. Thistletown and the Jungle are still wrecked. We can't stop gang violence with gun laws alone, but it may be a start — just a couple off the streets. More money has to be fed into community services. Give the potential gang members something else to do. Every youth organization I know in TO is underfunded. It has been like that since I started working in TO in the '80s. It's terrible. The communities are trying, and many people are volunteering in community centres, but there is never enough money. Even the Churches are strapped to stay open at night for the kids. It's not like the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts shooting each other. You comment about people not knowing about guns yet, you don't take into account what can and must be done to stop the scourge on the streets of the GTA that people are screaming for because they have seen their kids caught in the crossfire. Little kids killed. They are looking for an answer.
When I read Blair Hagen wants to change our Charter of Rights and Freedoms to make a constitutional change to enshrine the right to bear arms in Canada, the same as the US, I get scared. Just what we need. US gun Laws.
I don't care if you own a gun. I don't care if you hunt or target shoot. I do care if you think it is a right because that takes us down a terrible road of Yankee lunacy.
The discourse of the rural and the urban?
I understand being in TO and seeing the gun violence around your own kids and neighborhoods, but even these families screaming for more gun control laws don't even understand the gun laws or how new laws will only be followed by the people who follow them already, not the assholes shooting up their neighborhoods. Is a desperite measure for someone in a desperite situation who truly isn't in a position to try to solve the issues by asking for more gun laws. I am also going to bet these people who are begging to see the gun violence end have never held a gun themselves, used a gun or know any of the current laws or the process to owning a gun. So what do they have to loose by demanding more gun laws/bans? NOTHING.. they have nothing to loose because they have no use for a gun. Again, thats like if my kid went on a school skiing trip and died by slamming into a tree and then me demanding skiing be a banned acitivity. Banning it will certainly reduce death/injury by skiiing so why not? And I personaly don't like skiiing so I have no use for it, so if I don't a shit if its banned nor do I give a shit about the people who ski responsible and enjoy it.. Yet my demand to ban it will severaly affect those ppl who ski responsible and that is absolutely not fair to those people.
Banning guns is not and never will be the answer to end gun violence... Your right in that the solution begins within the community and the supports and education available to them. I truthfully believe the major cause of gangs and gun violence is due to the break down of the family and family values. You are much much much less likely to get involved in those things when you have a functioning, loving family with dad still in the picture. It's so sad for me to see so many broken families and unfortunately (like you) I get to see the end result of poor parenting, being raised without a dad, no family values taught, no love learned, shared, felt or showed... Its just sad to see it happen and its happening more frequently..
FYI, I have stated this before, I do not agree with all of the USA firearms laws at all. I think their system is quite flawed... I am fairly happy with Canada's current gun laws. My only wish that I would like to see changed is:
-being able to carry a pistol when bow hunting, camping, fishing etc.. I live in a unique place in that it can be quit dangerous to do any of these activities without a firearm. I know this doesn't apply across Canada, but where I live it certainly does.
-being able to target shoot a handgun on private property.
-more strict firearms course/testing.
-much more harsh penalties for certain firearm laws such as illegally bought guns, using a gun in crime etc..
