COMMENTARY - CSSA
February 05, 2016
Strangeness on the Firearms Front
Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette (L) has again taken the role of attack dog on the firearms file. While not unexpected, it is a little perplexing in relation to other events in the last few weeks.
Incensed by the fact that licenses for restricted firearms (primarily handguns) have jumped more than 75% since 2010, Senator Hervieux-Payette has renewed her call to ban all firearms except for those deemed "acceptable" for hunting.
While English-speaking media refuse to report on it, CBC's Quebec wing (http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/quebec/2016/01/26/001-armes-restreinte-canada-popularite.shtml) is happy to report that the Senator's plan to ban all firearms is moving forward.
Along with banning all firearms, her plan would also have all firearms stored in central repositories - not in individual homes.
Not to open the debate in the commentary, but would this measure ensure less home invasions since criminals will now have a one-stop shop for all their gun-theft needs or would they guarantee more home invasions with the knowledge that their victims are helpless? Inquiring minds need to know.
Senator Hervieux-Payette hates guns, including those in the hands of trained RCMP officers guarding Parliament Hill:"Every time I enter the Senate Chamber, I see two armed police officers at the door, one with a handgun and one with an automatic firearm. I must admit that this does not make me feel safe. On the contrary, I am frightened by the thought that a police officer armed with an automatic weapon could shoot it on the Hill."
She then attacked the very notion of private firearm ownership, decreeing that a Liberal government would ban all firearms except those deemed "acceptable" for hunting purposes.
She proposed to do the following:
· Prohibit all firearms in Canada except hunting firearms;
· limit the definition of hunting firearms to the arms that are really used for the purposes of hunting;
· limit the transport of circumscribed firearms to transporters, thus controlling the movement of firearms in Canada.
That means banning all guns except the few she would "allow" hunters to possess. Of course, the criteria for which guns she finds acceptable for hunting remain thoroughly and purposefully unclear.
Not only would she ban all firearms but also hunting rifles and shotguns. If you are a target shooter, you would no longer be permitted to drive to the shooting range with your firearms. You would be forced to use an authorized (official Star Trek) "transporter" instead.
We couldn't make this stuff up. Apparently the good senator has already met the "phazer on stun."
To add to the week's craziness, the RCMP has declared classifications for two new-to-Canada firearms. For years the erstwhile technicians in the Firearms Lab have been burning the midnight oil to categorize two firearms, the Akdal MKA 1919 and the Norinco Type 81.
The Akdal MKA 1919 is a 5-shot self-loading 12-gauge shotgun manufactured in Turkey. It looks somewhat like an AR-15 but of course, being a shotgun, it functions very little like the older Armalite rifle. All the controls on the shotgun are in the same place as the AR-15 rifle making the Akdal very useful in 3-gun competition.
The Norinco Type 81 is a civilian 7.62x39mm self-loader based on a Chinese military rifle. Like most Com-bloc rifles, there is a resemblance to the AK although the rifle has far more in common with the ubiquitous SKS rifle. It looks pretty racy though and, of course, less than a year ago the Firearms Lab declared a blowback .22 (the Mossberg Blaze 47) to be an AK-47 variant because the Mitchell Arms AK-22 (another blowback .22) was also an AK-47 variant.
Excedrin please!
And the verdict is (drum roll here): Both firearms have been declared non-restricted.
February 05, 2016
Strangeness on the Firearms Front
Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette (L) has again taken the role of attack dog on the firearms file. While not unexpected, it is a little perplexing in relation to other events in the last few weeks.
Incensed by the fact that licenses for restricted firearms (primarily handguns) have jumped more than 75% since 2010, Senator Hervieux-Payette has renewed her call to ban all firearms except for those deemed "acceptable" for hunting.
While English-speaking media refuse to report on it, CBC's Quebec wing (http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/quebec/2016/01/26/001-armes-restreinte-canada-popularite.shtml) is happy to report that the Senator's plan to ban all firearms is moving forward.
Along with banning all firearms, her plan would also have all firearms stored in central repositories - not in individual homes.
Not to open the debate in the commentary, but would this measure ensure less home invasions since criminals will now have a one-stop shop for all their gun-theft needs or would they guarantee more home invasions with the knowledge that their victims are helpless? Inquiring minds need to know.
Senator Hervieux-Payette hates guns, including those in the hands of trained RCMP officers guarding Parliament Hill:"Every time I enter the Senate Chamber, I see two armed police officers at the door, one with a handgun and one with an automatic firearm. I must admit that this does not make me feel safe. On the contrary, I am frightened by the thought that a police officer armed with an automatic weapon could shoot it on the Hill."
She then attacked the very notion of private firearm ownership, decreeing that a Liberal government would ban all firearms except those deemed "acceptable" for hunting purposes.
She proposed to do the following:
· Prohibit all firearms in Canada except hunting firearms;
· limit the definition of hunting firearms to the arms that are really used for the purposes of hunting;
· limit the transport of circumscribed firearms to transporters, thus controlling the movement of firearms in Canada.
That means banning all guns except the few she would "allow" hunters to possess. Of course, the criteria for which guns she finds acceptable for hunting remain thoroughly and purposefully unclear.
Not only would she ban all firearms but also hunting rifles and shotguns. If you are a target shooter, you would no longer be permitted to drive to the shooting range with your firearms. You would be forced to use an authorized (official Star Trek) "transporter" instead.
We couldn't make this stuff up. Apparently the good senator has already met the "phazer on stun."
To add to the week's craziness, the RCMP has declared classifications for two new-to-Canada firearms. For years the erstwhile technicians in the Firearms Lab have been burning the midnight oil to categorize two firearms, the Akdal MKA 1919 and the Norinco Type 81.
The Akdal MKA 1919 is a 5-shot self-loading 12-gauge shotgun manufactured in Turkey. It looks somewhat like an AR-15 but of course, being a shotgun, it functions very little like the older Armalite rifle. All the controls on the shotgun are in the same place as the AR-15 rifle making the Akdal very useful in 3-gun competition.
The Norinco Type 81 is a civilian 7.62x39mm self-loader based on a Chinese military rifle. Like most Com-bloc rifles, there is a resemblance to the AK although the rifle has far more in common with the ubiquitous SKS rifle. It looks pretty racy though and, of course, less than a year ago the Firearms Lab declared a blowback .22 (the Mossberg Blaze 47) to be an AK-47 variant because the Mitchell Arms AK-22 (another blowback .22) was also an AK-47 variant.
Excedrin please!
And the verdict is (drum roll here): Both firearms have been declared non-restricted.