Canada to outlaw handguns - if libs re-elected

OTTAWA (CP) - The Liberals are proposing a sweeping anti-crime package that would restrict handguns, toughen weapons penalties and pump more than $325 million into law enforcement.

Prime Minister Paul Martin promised Thursday to ban handguns, which are already severely restricted in Canada. He also vowed an amnesty and buy-back program to collect existing handguns.

http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/051208/n120827A.html

This is fucking retarded

I think it's a good thing.

Civility and intelligence in a beautiful country.

Who is Martin trying to help with this? I don't trust this guy much.

I hope we're next.

Oh, wait, they have been winning. Never mind. :sarcasm:

what do you need a handgun for ?

grizzlies ?

guns. It's just political grandstanding

I can't see the problem. I see it is a policy package that will work towards greater enforcement at the border as well which is a biggie. Reduce the number of guns coming over the border and ban them from being purchased makes perfect sense to me.

I just see a bunch of guys who own registered guns for target shooting getting their property taken away so Martin gets to look good in TO

stem the gun violence in Canada so the target shooters can feel good. I suspect the NDP would support this as well as they should. I suspect those who are legitimate competitors in legitimate target shooting competitions will still be able to retain their guns and continue to compete. The ones who go target shooting with hand guns not in legitimate competitions will be a different matter.

This does nothing to target the flow of illegal guns. ANd Illegal guns are the problem.

them and doing nothing else.

"Details of the Liberal proposal include:

a new 250 officer unit from the RCMP dedicated solely to fighting gun-related crimes, as well as other organized crime and drug trafficking;
75 new officers at Canada Border Services to combat illegal importation of handguns from the U.S.;
tougher sentences for gun-related crimes, by changing the Criminal Code to double the mandatory minimum sentences for such crimes;
encouraging community-based gun prevention, with help from a $50-million Gun Violence and Gang Prevention Fund to focus on youth at risk;
waving the re-registration fees for owners of long guns in order to encourage compliance with the Canada Firearms Program; and
a gun amnesty and buy-back program that draws from an Australian model, including a gun stoppers initiative aimed at ensuring the turn-in of illegal weapons."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051207/elxn_martin_handguns_051208/20051208?s_name=election2006

If, indeed, it were simply a ban on hand guns without any other policy proposals to go with it, I wouldn't support it either but I see this policy package as making sense.

But, the banning of handguns, in my view, is not needed on top of it. I think it's just politics. If I could see figures showing legal guns were committing them, I'd feel different

disagree is that sometimes politics can force common sense policies to be brought forth that should have been implemented outside of an election campaign.

I just don't see the big deal about banning something that the vast majority of Canadians don't have a need for and don't own therefore will NOT be affected by this ban. The only ones that will be affected by this are those creating a dangerous situation in some of our cities. Will it completely get rid of illegal hand guns, no, but I believe it has the potential to reduce it and that is important, imo.

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_guns20051208.html?ref=rss

90 per cent are illegal and from the US

I know the hand guns causing the violence are primarily illegal and smuggled from the United States. Banning hand guns in Canada includes those illegal smuggled guns and, therefore, certainly won't affect the 10% that are legal under restricted circumstances such as legitimate contestents in target shooting contests. Banning them won't hurt anything as the ban doesn't affect the vast majority of Canadians but it may potentially make it easier to identify the illegal ones so, again, I support the policy package, including the ban, being put forward.