The Problem With Banning Handguns.
After yet another shooting kills yet another innocent bystander in Toronto the not in a death spiral, Mayor David Miller and Premier Dalton McGuinty have, yet again called for a handgun ban. This time, their pleas seem to have some validity as the handgun in question appears to have been legally owned by a registered handgun owner.
The problem with the above is simple: while the shooter may have had a permit to own the gun, it was still an illegal gun at the time of the shooting. How’s that? you say. In order to own a handgun, you must agree it will be in one of two places: at home, locked in a safe; at your gun club, locked in a safe. There are two exceptions to this rule: You may take it out at the gun club for target shooting; you may travel between the club and your home with the gun. In order to do the latter, you must go to the police, notify them of your intent to travel with the gun, and get a temporary travel permit, that allows you to drive with the gun in your vehicle between the two locations. That’s it. Take the car, with the gun, to a strip club at 1:00 on a Saturday morning, and the gun is illegal. It is in a non-approved location. David Miller has said one of the reasons he wants a ban is if someone has a gun on them in the streets of Toronto, they can be arrested, no questions asked. That is true either way, if someone has a gun, then they are violating any permit they have, and can be arrested. No questions asked.
Proponents of a handgun ban use such baseless arguments all the time, and they do so for a reason. There is no evidence to suggest banning handguns will have any effect on violent crime. Some States have found letting more people carry guns around results in less violent crime. Britain has found banning the handgun went along with an increase in handgun use. Neither of which proves a pro handgun causation, but they do make a mockery of anti-handgun arguments. There is no reason to ban handguns.
But, some would argue, it can’t hurt. There’s no legitimate reason to own a handgun, so what have we got to lose? To which I would ask, when the handgun ban fails to decrease violence, which item will be next on the banned list? Which hobby next to be declared pointless? Which freedoms taken away for David Miller’s political expediency? What possession of yours will the state confiscate because they have no interest in solving the problem?
Because that’s what this is about, finding red herrings to yell about, finding bucks to pass instead of facing up the the real challenges of solving the problem. And when you ask what have we got to lose, the answer is, freedom.
freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, Toronto
Oh come on. What other “hobby” has the same potential to be as misused and potentially deadly to other people than the “hobbyist” than handguns? Your argument breaks down to “I should be able to have it cuz I wanna”. Nobody *NEEDS* to have a handgun unless you’re in a policing role. Your tripe about “what other hobby would be declared pointless” is completely asinine – if you can’t see the difference then you’re obviously less intelligent than I thought you were.
Course here’s a question… if someone has a handgun on the streets of Toronto NOW can they not be arrested immediately, no questions asked?
Okay… since you’ve got all the answers let’s say we do it your way. Everyone gets guns. So how does that face up to the “real challenges of solving the problem”?
Anon,
An obvious counterpoint to your downplaying of the issue is “what good would a ban do to a problem which is largely based on illegal usage?”
Read the post again, slowly. Move your lips this time:
Course here’s a question… if someone has a handgun on the streets of Toronto NOW can they not be arrested immediately, no questions asked?
Yes. I stated so clearly in the post and it is so. Even a registered gun would be illegal if you are walking down the streets.
hat other “hobby” has the same potential to be as misused and potentially deadly to other people than the “hobbyist” than handguns?
Driving? I cook, and use a 9″ chefs knife in the house. After the stabbing in a Brampton High School this week, can we reasonably say:
Nobody *NEEDS* to have a 9″ knife unless you’re a professional cook/chef.
The problem is, once the precedent is set, who knows where it stops. There’s always a good reason it seems.
let’s say we do it your way. Everyone gets guns.
My way was never, “everybody gets guns,” again read the post… slowly.
And next time put a name to your name calling – anonymous posts are now off. I’m tired of being called asinine by chicken-shits who hide behind anonymity.
Hand guns should be totally banned.
How many people are killed by stray knives or baseball bats? All the gun collections in the country and all the “fun” that target shooters have are not worth the life of a single person killed by stray shots.
The point, ra, is that nobody is killed by stray target shooters. It’s by people using either illegal guns, or guns in an illegal fashion. Meanwhile we sacrifice one more little piece of freedom, one more bit of ourselves we hand over to someone else. And ra, it may not be baseball bats or kitchen knives, but it will be something. There’s always just one more thing that’s too dangerous.
Thanks for the comment.