But heck, disclosure and all.
I'm not actually a "member" of anything, but I have given money in the past to the Canadian Coalition for Gun Control and my old Toyota van wore one of their supporter stickers.
http://www.guncontrol.ca/http://www.guncontrol.ca/Content/about.htmThere's scads of information there for anyone interested. E.g.:
http://www.guncontrol.ca/Content/ConstitutionalChallenge.htmlAnd yeah, duh, the perspective from which the information about the constitutional challenge to the firearms registry is presented is "biased". The groups involved in the challenge to the legislation include (just in case anybody's looking for a group to join):
A number of shooting groups have also aligned themselves with the Alberta government <which is challenging the federal law>. These include: the Coalition of Responsible Firearm Owners and Sportsmen, which represents the following: Responsible Firearm Owners of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, National Firearm Association, Alberta Fish and Game Association, Alberta Arms and Cartridges Collectors and the Sporting Clubs of Niagara. The Law-Abiding Unregistered Firearm Owners (LUFA), which promotes non-compliance with the law, has also been granted intervenor status by the Supreme Court.
Something that advocates of stricter regulation of firearms in the US might want to remember:
While the Alberta Government claims that there is no "proof" that gun control works, the standard of "proof" it is demanding goes far beyond what is required for justice reforms. Dr. Neil Boyd, Criminology professor at Simon Fraser University argued that the detailed evaluation of the 1977 legislation provides stronger evidence of the effectiveness of gun control than is available to support on most other reforms. Dr. Martin Killias, criminologist, University of Lausanne, has suggested that demands for conclusive "proof" are often a strategy for delay.
The federal government is joined, in supporting the legislation, by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters:
In its factum, the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters submitted that roughly a third of domestic homicides involve firearms, and that in at least 70% of these incidents, the firearms used are long guns. It also argues that women experience guns and firearm possession differently than men - firearm owners are overwhelmingly male (86%) while over 75% of the victims of spousal homicide involving firearms are women. In addition, its evidence shows that firearms are also used to harm or intimidate women in the context of domestic violence.
... Alberta’s expert on domestic violence is Senator Anne Cools.
Senators in Canada are appointed, not elected. Cools, a black woman, is to women as Clarence Thomas is to black people. Is there an "oreo cookie" term for a woman-hating woman?
Yes, I know, you didn't ask. But I love to answer anyway!