An Exercise in Logic

It is a slow news day a rather blah Monday, rainy, chili temperatures. It's good day for an exercise in logic. Shall we start out slow?

People in Canada have had firearms for their use and protection for 400 years, this includes the period that it was part of New France. Individuals have had all different types of firearms for their use and protection since confederation. We in Canada own as many firearms as our neighbours to the south on a per capita basis. Yet as it has been pointed out by the likes of Michael Moore(rightly or wrongly) we do not suffer from as much firearms violence. Not that I wish to debate the merits of what Michael Moore has said in one of his films, his observation is valid. Bit of Canadian pride speaking here, but we are a nice group of people. I have often spoke of our sense of fair play and pragmatism.

So I put it to you my fellow Canadian is it logical to criminalize 7 million of our citizens who have enjoyed a right for 400 years? Is it fair to punish 7 million people for the actions of a handful of people who lack the ability to know right from wrong? I say a handful because the parties responsible for our pernicious firearms act amounts to at the very least 6 individuals that took their frustrations in life out on their fellow man. We read in the bold headlines of our news papers about another shooting in one of our neighbourhoods in one of our major cities quite regularly. But again this amounts to a small number of individuals engaged in criminal activity. Is not logical to punish the innocent rather than those who have committed criminal acts?

Is it logical to criminalize people before they commit a criminal act? Do we as Canadians round up people because we think they might be a risk to commit a crime? No we don't, such a notion is repugnant to us. We believe in the concept of innocent until proved guilty, do we not?

Do we think rocks,sticks, our cars possess the ability to reason and form thought? No of course not. Do we think any of the above have the ability to control our thoughts? I should hope not. Would we believe someone that said "The rock told me to break your window."? Would you consider such a statement to be rational or logical. No of course not, we would say "Grow up and take responsibility for your actions." Would we not?

If you have followed this argument thus far you see that their is a logic in play. It is individual people who cause harm to society not inanimate objects. I know perhaps what you might be thinking, " We get it guns don't hurt people yah yah blah blah". but only if, only if they could not have gotten that gun. Well that is a debate on its own, however should we begin to hold people who have had their cars stolen by thieves responsible for the actions of the thieves? Is it logical to outlaw cars because someone might steal one and use it as a get away car?

This concludes the exercise for today. Our laws should always reflect sober second thought as opposed to emotional knee jerk reactions. Laws carefully reasoned, aimed at the people who do break the law.