The Missing Link

It has been nigh on to 14 years since Bill C-68 The Firearms Act has been law in Canada. I know many Canadians believe that this was a good idea and was way over due. Sadly many of these same Canadians were sold a bill of goods in what they were told about this Act. They were lead to believe that this would solve the problem of gun violence, and "We" could all sleep safely in our homes knowing the law will protect them. Unfortunately there are two worlds in Canada, the first is the world that we are familiar with. It is a world filled with friends, family,bills,work and play, a world filled with optimism and hope. It is not all smiles and chuckles it is a world of struggle to keep our lives afloat, we have our misfortunes and tragedies. Be that as is may we all try to get along and do our best for the most part. Most of all we try to play by the rules of civil society at all times. The second world in Canada is not such a pleasant place, it is a world of mistrust and pessimism. A world where the struggle is just to stay alive. It is a predatory world where the weak are eaten up by substance abuse and are prey to the predators of that world. I am talking about the criminal world. A world where survival of the fittest is the rule not the exception, where the strong band together to be stronger. The world where the rules of civil society are not in play but rather their own code. You need something take it, Need money steal it or sell drugs. Do what ever you want to do all you need worry about is who might come gunning for you. The law is just an inconvenience, time in jail or prison is like going to school or summer camp. Given the sentences that are handed out by our judiciary it is like camp and in this world a criminal record is a badge of honour.

I have outlined this as accurately as I can. I have met some very scary people in my time and I am only an observer. What many people fail to realize is that to the second world life is a deadly game played by cheats, liars and sociopaths. Where the ideal of "COOL" is how tough you are or at least appear to be. In my own opinion true toughness is not sinking to criminal activity to get to where you want to go in life but rather working hard toward that end. As I have said though in this world the law is merely an inconvenience. There is a missing link between the world of the law abiding and the world of the criminal. I know from time to time, an other wise law abiding person slips commits a grave error in judgement and they find themselves on the wrong side of the law. It happens. For the most part we obey they laws of the land. That is the missing link, we don't think like they do, we don't behave like they do.

Therefore the logic escapes me why anyone would think that the firearms act would stop them. In fact it has encouraged them. It has created a new revenue stream for them (smuggled/stolen guns). This is where the "missing link" again becomes apparent because to them it is just another law to be broken. I ask you does it make sense? If someone has the stones to murder someone what possible effect is making the ownership of a gun illegal? Even if we were able to remove the invention of the gun from the pages of history to the point that they never existed there would still be the means to kill. If a person is willing to break our highest law who or what is going to stop them? Even if mankind had never discovered metal the means to kill would still exist. The firearms act did not solve this problem nor could it. It has only ever affected people like you and me. Law abiding people, solely because we reside in the first world I mentioned. We don't want to go to jail, not even for a day. We don't want a criminal record because it is a badge of shame to us. The logic follows that even if guns were outlawed completely the denizens of the second world would still have them. England is an Island, it has it been a hopeless effort preventing guns from finding their way into the hands of their denizens.

But when worlds collide tragedy follows. There is not a wall between our worlds we co-exist side by side we intermingle on the streets bump into one another. We don't judge books by their covers nor people for that matter, so we don't have the means to identify citizen from denizen. We don't know for sure until we are confronted alone by a denizen(s) and their intent made clear, we are todays prey. I am passed the idea that we can change them all we might be able to do is reclaim a few. Perhaps a 3 strikes rule would serve as a deterrent. I think a place like Baffin Island would be a good location to lock them up, hungry bears would be the best guards. Feeding them and clothing them would be the extent of the care, if they want to kill each other who cares? They are not on our streets. The main flaw to be addressed in this line of thinking is, for every one locked up there is one in the wings waiting. That is where the social engineers energies might be better spent. Applied solutions at the early years of life would be more productive.

But still there is that missing link between gun control and crime. How do we make our streets safer? Drugs are heavily controlled substances in Canada yet they still find their way to our streets. You cannot buy a gun without a licence yet guns find their way onto the streets. 90 % are smuggled. Ban handguns to take care of 10% that are stolen from their lawful owners? That would be unfair to the owners who have not had their guns stolen, and just wrong. We do not hold car owners responsible for the crimes committed in stolen cars. The difference in most peoples minds is that we need our cars but we don't need guns. Then the question is do we? Since when do we need to justify the things we own? But guns hurt people, they were made only for one thing and that is to kill. No not entirely true. The electric chair and the gas chamber were made for killing for that matter a hangman's noose. But these serve an entirely different purpose in Society.

What many fail to realize and I hope I am pointing out this missing link. The worry and concern is not people like you and I having guns. Indeed you and I could own what ever small arms we wanted to. The concern is the denizens what is in their hands. Now ask yourself what did thieves and bandits use before guns? Passing any laws restricting our access to firearms only does that affect our access. Leaving the denizens alone and unaffected. What we are seeing happening now with our current law is the imbalance. We are seeing denizens running free because they know to a high degree of certainty(like 100%) we don't have anything but a cell phone on our hips or breast pocket. That we have nothing in our cars that will hurt them. Bill c-68 has seen to this. This is why crimes like rape, car jackings, home invasions, and that old favourite muggings can happen in our day and age. It is this missing link or in legalese a rational connection between the firearms act and denizens of the criminal world.

The largest concern is firearms falling into their hands. While we might be able to plug some of the holes in the border it would be nigh to impossible to plug all of them. Remember we have a very long frontier that is unguarded but it is worth trying to do. The trouble with the firearms act and its registry is it creates a list of who is licenced and who has what kind of firearm. It is all in a central data base on a Government computer. Can you say "hacker", no computer is entirely secure what would prevent an enterprising wanna be denizen with computer skills from hacking the system? In fact it has been hacked, providing a complete list of who owns what and where. What do you think such a list would be worth to the denizens? To make matters worse The Province of Ontario has the Ammunition Act or as it is also known the Baylis Law, named for the Police officer gunned down by a crack dealer (one that was scheduled for deportation). This act requires each store that sells ammunition. to collect personal details of the purchaser including home address and type of gun it is for. This document or book is in the hands of your average worker in places like Walmart and Canadian Tire. There is no requirement for the security of this book. Any employee can get access to this book. What do you think that book is worth to the local denizens? Perhaps the store clerk is a student and is being bullied into obtaining copies? These are examples of Government provided catalogues for firearms. Perhaps if these did not exist there would be fewer stolen guns? If you have noticed I just made a link to gun control and crime. I am sure it is a link that none of the politicians nor advocates for gun control intended, nor would they concede that link. But it does illustrate the law of unintended consequences. The safest gun is the gun in the hands of a law abiding citizen, away from the well meaning prying eyes of regulation. The idea is keep the denizens guessing, as long as they think that we are armed the safer we citizens will be.

Just as an end note the Chief of Police in York region has announced to all denizens that there are 80 000 lawfully owned firearms in Vaughn. Do you think there will be an increase in break and enters there?