BarrieToday received the following letter in response to Peter Bursztyn's letter, which was published on Saturday. Letters can be sent to [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address for verification of authorship, not publication.
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I am so tired of "journalists" these days giving press time to every grossly uninformed, anti-gun, urbanite who wants to wring their hands and decry Canadian gun law. Do you even fact check?
Fact 1. Automatic fire guns are and have been completely prohibited in Canada for generations.
Fact 2. Semi-automatic rifles have been safely used by hunters and sport-shooters for many generations.
Fact 3. All centre-fire rifles (anything bigger than a .22) are already restricted to a maximum of a five-round magazine.
Fact 4. Almost all gun violence we are exposed to in the media is from the United States, not Canada. For the record, that is a foreign country with a very different gun culture and gun laws.
Fact 5. Almost all gun violence in Canada is perpetrated using illegal handguns. Not with supposed "assault rifles."
Fact 6. An "AR" does not stand for "assault rifle." It has always stood for "armalite rifle."
Fact 7. "Assault rifles" do not exist. It is a purely layman's term for "that scary looking gun that army guy is carrying."
Fact 8. No "AR" rifles capable of fully automatic fire have ever been allowed for sale in Canada. They have always been prohibited.
Fact 9. There is no ballistic difference between "AR" rifles and more traditional rifles. They fire the same ammunition, at the same rate of fire. AR's have become so popular with enthusiasts simply because they are very easy to personalize with accessories. What does any collector like to do with their toys if not personalize them? This is why they have become so prevalent. Not because they are deadlier.
Fact 10. Almost all firearms are of military origin. To single out and decry modern "scary looking" rifles as more dangerous is to imply that more traditional rifles shoot cupcakes and rainbows by comparison. This is a false and alarmist position. In fact, from a purely scientific, ballistic comparison, many traditional rifles use calibres of ammunition significantly more powerful than any "AR".
These facts also reveal the true motives behind the gun-control lobby. They prey on the uninformed fears of non gun-owners in the hopes of realizing their true goal. The elimination of all firearms. This is the false "social licence" they pursue. Once they get one particular kind of firearm banned purely based on uninformed paranoia, they will simply move on to the next. They have no middle-ground in mind. And this is precisely why all the perfectly legal, safe and responsible gun owners in this country are getting fed up.
In the future please inform yourself about the veracity, and rationality, of the claims being made by gun-control lobbyists. Otherwise you lend credence to the increasingly clamorous cries of "fake news!"
John Wiens
Barrie
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