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A toast: To taking trophies and the end of gun control in Canada

By Scott Carpenter
web posted July 16, 2001

As a hunter I am accustomed to the practice of hanging trophies -- pictures, antlers or otherwise -- from the walls of my home. But a trophy is not always what it seems. It is not always the largest head or the heaviest beast but rather they are the creatures that have challenged me the most -- either physically or mentally -- thus leaving an indelible impression in my memory.

Indeed, for me trophies come in all shapes and sizes. For example -- I have a ragged set of average sized moose antlers hanging in the entry way of my home that I am especially proud of -- not because of their size (which is not impressive to begin with) but because of the patience and the time it took to harvest the animal and the major trials and tribulations I endured while getting the meat out of the bush.

And before I am too old to go afield any more I will see one more trophy hang from the walls of my home. I have a special place reserved over the mantle of my wood stove for Canada's Firearms Act. For now it is stored neatly away in my filing cabinet but when the law is dead and gone I will remove the giant tomb from its resting place and put it in a frame on the wall. A plaque beneath it will read "Here Lies Tyranny -- Slain at Last."

Fortunately there is ample evidence to suggest that the time for me to purchase the plaque and dust off the frame is not so far away. Take for example the British Columbia Firearms Center's recent decision to cut back on staff and hours. What used to be an 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM operation now runs regular business hours, is short staffed and has certain departments closed or running a skeleton crew on weekends.

Given that the deadline to register all firearms in Canada is quickly approaching and given that hundreds of thousands of applicants have thus far not received their licenses (and are therefore instant criminals purely of the government's making) let alone begun registering their guns we can only assume one thing: the end is near. In fact, when I recently questioned one employee of the center about the security of her job her response was less than enthusiastic. All she could say was she "couldn't talk about it".

Plagued with computer problems (constant breakdowns), a growing work load made almost purely of new firearms being brought into the country and being sold in Canadian businesses and the growing realization that Canadians -- despite the government's propaganda -- are not complying with the law as expected moral seems to be low at our local center for people control.

By the governments own estimates some 300,000 gun owners out of 2.8 million have not applied for licenses. These numbers -- which even by the governments earlier studies are terribly low [some studies show there may be as many as five to seven million gun owners in Canada... for you Americans that's roughly 17 to 25 percent of our population] -- reveal a wonderful reality: large percentages of Canadians will not comply with the Liberal's evil laws.

But even more interesting is the affect this exercise has had on many Canadian's view of the law itself. Gone are the days of blind obedience and timidity before the state. Bill C-68 has been a wake up call for the people of Canada (particularly rural residents) and has helped to spawn such things as separatist movements in the west, calls for political reform in Ottawa and a return to our tradition of respect for individuals and their property.

It is true that C-68 has done what no other law could have -- it has created a Canadian counter culture and has contributed -- to the denial and perhaps the astonishment of the Liberal establishment -- to the Americanization of our society itself.

And so I drink a toast -- to the beginning of the end. I don't know about you but it can't come soon enough for me.

Cheers.

Scott Carpenter is a freelance writer and syndicated columnist with Le Quebecois Libre.

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Other related articles: (open in a new window)

  • The trouble with Canadians by Scott Carpenter (July 3, 2000)
    Many Canadians will agree that there is a need for some gun control, says Scott Carpenter, because they've never fully thought out the issue of what a right really is
  • A Canadian first by Scott Carpenter (June 19, 2000)
    Things are going badly for Canada's gun registry agency, says Scott Carpenter. While that's that good, even better is that the average Canadian appears to be giving the system the raspberry




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