I am a legally abiding firearms owner. I have a restricted and non-restricted firearms license. I am writing in regards to the Liberals’ firearms ban that was not taken to parliament for debate. The majority of my firearms are non restricted. My restricted firearm is an old relic from 1945. It saddens and frustrates me how the government has gone about this ban.
I follow every single law in regards to my firearms. They are always locked inside a gun cabinet and have disabling locks on them. My restricted firearm has a trigger locked and is locked in a gun case which is also locked in a gun cabinet. I go straight to the gun range and straight home after I am done target shooting. When I signed up for a restricted firearms license, I had agreed to the police coming to my house at any time to check if I am following the law.
As a firearms owner I can have my firearms and my license taken from me for violent crimes like physical altercations, uttering threats, robbery, etc. There is too much risk in the potential to lose my firearms. I don’t engage in altercations of any kind. I enjoy my privilege of owning firearms. It’s a privilege I have earned from not engaging in criminal activities. Target shooting is my biggest hobby.
Now I have to worry about my firearms being banned after jumping all the legal hoops to be able to legally own them. So many Canadians jumped the same hoops. We have strict gun laws which are great if they keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. Law-abiding firearms owners do not deserve to have our property taken from us. We have no criminal record and now with the bans on firearms we have to sell or surrender them. If not, we can face criminal charges. That to me is unfair and unjust.
It seems no democratic process was used in the bans of these rifles. I am but one of many legally abiding firearms owners in Canada. It’s statistically proven deaths from driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol are substantially higher then deaths by firearms, especially ones by law-abiding citizens. Firearms are not as scary and deadly as people think, especially when it comes to being in the hands of people who follow the law.
Ryan Brady
Nelson