Dear editor,
Re: – Canadian firearms laws are robust, but there is no perfect solution (July 22 letter).
I am pleased to see that Mr. Goodman agrees in principle with my stance on the useless Liberal gun ban.
Unfortunately, he labels it as being “counter-productive and factually wrong. He then accuses me of attempting to “insert toxic American political tribalism into the discussion.” He makes these insulting claims then utterly fails to make a case for such wild statements.
The ban is absolutely driven by ideology. Gun control is a major plank in the current left-wing ideology. Trudeau and his cronies dream about rebuilding Canada in their socialist vision. In the mid-90s, Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs admitted as much when she stated gun control was not about public safety, but merely a step in the ‘social re-engineering of Canada.’
What other reason could there be for the ban? By Mr. Goodman’s own admission it solves no ‘problems’ (imagined or otherwise). It defies all evidence and academic studies on the subject. It doesn’t even involve the firearms most criminally misused - illegally smuggled handguns. Urban versus rural? Perhaps. Except I’ve been a city dweller all my life. So have my hundreds of gun-owning friends. They are also all Conservatives. I’ve never met a gun owner (until seeing Mr. Goodman’s letter) who will admit to being a Liberal voter. Sounds ideological to me.
To dismiss the current polarization in our country and accuse me of inserting “toxic American political tribalism” is incredibly short-sighted and dangerously naive. The polarization is already here and it is Canadian. It’s simmering beneath the surface for a long time. Five years of Trudeau driving us further left has blown the lid off the pot. Deny it at your peril. There are millions of extremely angry citizens who agree with me.
I do salute Mr. Goodman, though. It takes some courage to admit, in print, to being a gun owner and a Liberal.
David Vernon,
Comox