by Terry Wieland
This just in from compass points north: The Liberal Canadian government has ditched three of the most contentious amendments from its omnibus gun-control bill. For now, at least, potential terrorists will be able to continue to arm themselves with Great War-era Lee-Enfields, Quebec secessionists can keep their lever-action .22s, and those intent on stopping on-coming government tanks can rely on their .460 Weatherbys.
Well, actually, we’re still not sure about the last, since the blanket ban on any rifle generating more than 10,000 joules (7,375 ft. lbs.) muzzle energy was actually part of an earlier order-in-council. An order-in-council is similar to an American executive order, intended to allow the government to deal with emergencies when Parliament is not in session. In theory, at least, such orders are rendered legitimate by the House of Commons at a later date.
(Note: These muzzle energy and bore diameter restrictions were rescinded later the same day.)
You have to say one thing for Justin Trudeau (the xxxxx xxxxxx lookalike) and his federal Liberals: They have mastered the art of tacitly playing the race card. The above amendment was introduced by one Paul Chiang, MP, an immigrant of Chinese descent, born in Pakistan; now they send out Taleeb Noormohamed, MP, to announce the withdrawal. Call me a cynic, but I can’t help thinking they were (and are) prepared to shout “Racist!” if anyone dares criticize.
By the way, in committee meetings, Noormohamed was twice cautioned by the chairman for “disrespectful” behavior after mocking witnesses, so if you watch the CBC clip of the mealy-mouthed little xxxxx making the announcement, keep that in mind.
Here’s a quick summary of Bill C-21 as it now stands: It was intended to further restrict handgun use, and ban the importation and sale of handguns completely. This hasn’t changed. Gone are most of the asinine amendments introduced by Chiang, who is either a cat’s paw or a complete xxxxxx. I suspect the latter, with a dash of the former.
Chiang’s 306-page list of rifles and shotguns to be banned is gone. This list includes such laughable entries as the Ruger No. 1 (because it might be rebarreled to .460 Weatherby), all Parker shotguns (because they once made one in 8-gauge), the Lee-Enfield, Canada’s military rifle through two world wars and almost a cult object among shooters, and anything that might be able to take a magazine of greater than five rounds, even if such a magazine does not even exist.
Another important provision that’s withdrawn would give the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) the authority to ban anything they like in future, without referring to Parliament.
The one indisputable result of all this is that the federal government generally—Liberal politicians, civil servants, and of course the Mounties—have shown to all the world that they know absolutely nothing about firearms, or what’s actually dangerous, or what’s used in crime. Presumably, the RCMP advised the above-mentioned xxxxxxx, former police sergeant Chiang, on what to include in his 306-page wish list.
To pick just one, the 1908 Brazilian Mauser: What on earth could anyone find about it, as opposed to any other Mauser ’98, that makes it especially dangerous? Absolutely nothing I can think of, but there it was, on the list to be banned, mentioned specifically. It does not exceed 20mm bore diamer, does not have a detachable magazine, and does not have muzzle energy anywhere near 10,000 joules.
So why? Did the RCMP files show that, sometime in the past, a guy threatened someone with a 1908 Brazilian Mauser, which was then confiscated, and went on the list as a “criminal” weapon?
One expects politicians to be ignorant, uninformed, occasionally downright stupid, and often semiliterate as well, but Canadians at large have a warm feeling for the RCMP and would like to believe they know what they’re doing. Alas, this touching faith is not borne out by history. I could mention the Mad Trapper of Rat River—a subject every Mountie I’ve ever met wishes would be forgotten—but that sterling episode aside, when it comes to firearms, they sometimes give Monte Python a run for its money.
How do I know? Well, for one thing, I was briefly married to one (relax, lads, it was a woman) and her attitude, even after graduating from Mountie school in Regina, was astonishing. After going through all that, she quit the force after barely a year because, on patrol one night, she had to draw her service pistol and might—Horror of horrors! Heaven forfend!—have been forced to pull the trigger. One wonders why she wasn’t weeded out before the government invested all that money in her training, but maybe they were desperate for recruits on the distaff side.
My more recent Mounties-as-fumblers story concerns the old handgun registry that was begun sometime in the 1950s. It consisted, of course, of paper files, registration certificates, and so on. When the Liberals attempted to impose their universal gun registry in the late 1990s, they insisted everyone re-register their handguns. This seemed odd, so I did a little probing. Seems that, somewhere along the line, the RCMP had “mislaid” about half the registrations. Thousands and thousands of files, just gone. And no one had noticed!
This shows just how vital gun registries are in the heroic battle against crime.
Could there have been a pro-gun mole in the RCMP who stole the files? Actually, I suspect simple incompetence is a more likely explanation.
Note to readers: This article originally contained words like “Fidel Castro,”“twerp,” “dimwit,” and “moron,” withdrawn on the editor’s advice. Feel free to insert where appropriate.
Gray’s shooting editor, Terry Wieland, has a perverse affection for gun-control advocates because they are so easy to ridicule.
