Comments on: Gun Violence in Canada http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/ A daily round table on the tech industry with experts and callers from all over the globe. Join us as we pick apart the news and get to the meat of what\'s happening out there. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:22:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Carly http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-1095341 Carly Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:07:28 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-1095341 Even if everyone had a gun, that doesn't mean that everyone would know how to handle them. While trying to defend themselves, many civilians end up harming themselves or innocent bystanders because they don't know how to operate that type of weapon. This is why arming the country isn't the best solution. Also, there are less...deadly...weapons such as pepper spray and mace. Sometimes, that minute or so it takes for the assailant to regain their vision is all it takes to get away. Even if everyone had a gun, that doesn’t mean that everyone would know how to handle them. While trying to defend themselves, many civilians end up harming themselves or innocent bystanders because they don’t know how to operate that type of weapon. This is why arming the country isn’t the best solution. Also, there are less…deadly…weapons such as pepper spray and mace. Sometimes, that minute or so it takes for the assailant to regain their vision is all it takes to get away.

]]> By: Dwayne http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-1029891 Dwayne Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:26:52 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-1029891 Even if all legal gun owners gave up their guns, there will still be gun violence. Criminals are not legal gun owners, they use black market guns. So to them, the ban does not apply. After all, there's a ban on illegal drugs, but that doesn't stop the drug trade either. If every law abiding adult had a loaded hand gun holstered on them, then the criminals wouldn't be inclined to use their illegal guns. Women wouldn't get attacked by knife wielding rapists, burglers wouldn't enter buildings. Schools wouldn't get attacked by social retards. And morons like Charlie would shut up! Even if all legal gun owners gave up their guns, there will still be gun violence. Criminals are not legal gun owners, they use black market guns. So to them, the ban does not apply. After all, there’s a ban on illegal drugs, but that doesn’t stop the drug trade either.

If every law abiding adult had a loaded hand gun holstered on them, then the criminals wouldn’t be inclined to use their illegal guns. Women wouldn’t get attacked by knife wielding rapists, burglers wouldn’t enter buildings. Schools wouldn’t get attacked by social retards. And morons like Charlie would shut up!

]]> By: charlie.... http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-818377 charlie.... Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:30:09 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-818377 man.... why people wanna b bannin dem guns. what me n my bnoys gonna do tan eat?n cant stick no body up, cant rob no store, cant blast a man that gona kill me if i was slangin drugs....fuck a ban and paul martin the B**** A**n motherF******. sum 1 should make him a statistic. 590 million...get people out the ghetto man. save sum for me, s***, i could put it ta better use than that goof. he wont even fly a f***** canadian flag on his company boats n he was primeminister. S*** im 16 n i can see he is an idiot. maybe next time when we have an election i should go look in the crack spot for a candidate. man…. why people wanna b bannin dem guns. what me n my bnoys gonna do tan eat?n cant stick no body up, cant rob no store, cant blast a man that gona kill me if i was slangin drugs….fuck a ban and paul martin the B**** A**n motherF******. sum 1 should make him a statistic. 590 million…get people out the ghetto man. save sum for me, s***, i could put it ta better use than that goof. he wont even fly a f***** canadian flag on his company boats n he was primeminister. S*** im 16 n i can see he is an idiot. maybe next time when we have an election i should go look in the crack spot for a candidate.

]]> By: BBSB http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-17087 BBSB Fri, 09 Jun 2006 15:44:09 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-17087 Scuse me Scuse me

]]> By: Steven Kendrick http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2634 Steven Kendrick Tue, 27 Dec 2005 00:53:57 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2634 A better statistic was the cost of the UK handgun ban. According to the National Audit Office and the Home Office the cost of the handgun ban was £97 million (including admin costs), and that was in GB where there were 200,000 handguns, of which 160,000 were surrendered for compensation. According to the Canadian Firearm Centre, there are around 1.1 million registered handguns in Canada, assume that 80% of those are surrendered for compensation, that means 880,000 handguns. Take into account inflation since the British handgun ban and you're looking at a compensation cost around $1.3 billion by my reckoning. A better statistic was the cost of the UK handgun ban. According to the National Audit Office and the Home Office the cost of the handgun ban was £97 million (including admin costs), and that was in GB where there were 200,000 handguns, of which 160,000 were surrendered for compensation.

According to the Canadian Firearm Centre, there are around 1.1 million registered handguns in Canada, assume that 80% of those are surrendered for compensation, that means 880,000 handguns. Take into account inflation since the British handgun ban and you’re looking at a compensation cost around $1.3 billion by my reckoning.

]]> By: Vijay Anand http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2344 Vijay Anand Fri, 09 Dec 2005 18:20:52 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2344 You make a very valid point Alec. Thanks for the insight. I couldn't understand as well (though I am in India at the moment, I still keep up with Canadian news). I don't think the gangs care one way or the other if there is a ban. I don't think they were carrying regulated guns for the most part. So a ban wouldn't necessarily do anything. The only smart thing, as you said, is to cause a ripple in the environment to positively affect the atmosphere and give them something else to do, think and work towards. You make a very valid point Alec. Thanks for the insight.

I couldn’t understand as well (though I am in India at the moment, I still keep up with Canadian news). I don’t think the gangs care one way or the other if there is a ban. I don’t think they were carrying regulated guns for the most part. So a ban wouldn’t necessarily do anything. The only smart thing, as you said, is to cause a ripple in the environment to positively affect the atmosphere and give them something else to do, think and work towards.

]]> By: Alec http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2342 Alec Fri, 09 Dec 2005 16:02:48 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2342 Martin's reaction is due to the endless stream of gun violence stories coming from the media here which are focused on Toronto. I am sure that out in Vancouver there are also gun violence problems, but he's reacting to Toronto. In any case, what I said applies equally well across the country. We've already got one of the lowest rates of gun-related homicide in the world. Most types of weapons you can buy today are heavily regulated. Why not focus on the root causes of the problems? Why invest millions in a ban when the registry is already doing its job well? And yes, I did do some further digging on the story after writing this piece. There are a variety of initiatives being planned. The Liberals mis-positioned the whole thing as a hand gun ban. If they'd been smart they would have announced initiatives to deal with gun violence, rather than an outright ban. Defang the Conservatives at the same time, because nobody can argue that dealing with violence is a bad thing. Instead they rolled border patrolling and everything else into a $590 million news piece with an outrageous headline guaranteed to alienate a good percentage of voters. The truth appears to be an expenditure of $30 million annually for five years, plus legislation to ban handguns. The details are available here: http://www.liberal.ca/news_e.aspx?id=1143. The money may not even be spent, as well, since it's money that's being offered to the provinces to enact their own handgun bans. Sorry to be cynical, but that looks like pretty good value for the Liberal parties campaign dollars, wouldn't you say? Martin makes an over the top election promise that he may never have to keep, and get re-elected in the process. So, it's $150 million rather than $590 million. It's still too much for the result being achieved. Martin’s reaction is due to the endless stream of gun violence stories coming from the media here which are focused on Toronto. I am sure that out in Vancouver there are also gun violence problems, but he’s reacting to Toronto. In any case, what I said applies equally well across the country. We’ve already got one of the lowest rates of gun-related homicide in the world. Most types of weapons you can buy today are heavily regulated. Why not focus on the root causes of the problems? Why invest millions in a ban when the registry is already doing its job well?

And yes, I did do some further digging on the story after writing this piece. There are a variety of initiatives being planned. The Liberals mis-positioned the whole thing as a hand gun ban. If they’d been smart they would have announced initiatives to deal with gun violence, rather than an outright ban. Defang the Conservatives at the same time, because nobody can argue that dealing with violence is a bad thing. Instead they rolled border patrolling and everything else into a $590 million news piece with an outrageous headline guaranteed to alienate a good percentage of voters.

The truth appears to be an expenditure of $30 million annually for five years, plus legislation to ban handguns. The details are available here: http://www.liberal.ca/news_e.aspx?id=1143. The money may not even be spent, as well, since it’s money that’s being offered to the provinces to enact their own handgun bans. Sorry to be cynical, but that looks like pretty good value for the Liberal parties campaign dollars, wouldn’t you say? Martin makes an over the top election promise that he may never have to keep, and get re-elected in the process.

So, it’s $150 million rather than $590 million. It’s still too much for the result being achieved.

]]> By: madvoiper http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2341 madvoiper Fri, 09 Dec 2005 14:59:31 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2341 As per normal for central Canadians, you speak as tho Toronto is the whole of Canada; it's not. Those 112 handgun deaths from last year have more than doubled this year, with a bunch of em right here in lotusland. Although I agree that banning handguns really only keeps the honest from using them, I don't think the Liberals' policy is an outrageous and cynical act, although it may be a bit of a knee jerk reaction. I will say that PM P.M.'s action is a heck of a lot less frightening than Stephen Harper's response of "that won't solve the issue so let's do nothing". Let me add, I am definitely no big fan of the liberals, but they are heckuva lot less frightening to me than the alternatives. On CFOX, (the local rock radio station here) yesterday they brought it up, and everyone agreed that something has to be done about gun violence NOW, and everyone agreed that although the liberals proposed solution doesn't solve the problem, its a bigger start than anyone else is showing us. Also, I don't think their proposal stops at gun legislation; there is a bunch in there about harsher penalties and increased law enforcement. I believe a big part of that 500 plus million bucks is the law enforcement... As per normal for central Canadians, you speak as tho Toronto is the whole of Canada; it’s not. Those 112 handgun deaths from last year have more than doubled this year, with a bunch of em right here in lotusland.

Although I agree that banning handguns really only keeps the honest from using them, I don’t think the Liberals’ policy is an outrageous and cynical act, although it may be a bit of a knee jerk reaction. I will say that PM P.M.’s action is a heck of a lot less frightening than Stephen Harper’s response of “that won’t solve the issue so let’s do nothing”. Let me add, I am definitely no big fan of the liberals, but they are heckuva lot less frightening to me than the alternatives.

On CFOX, (the local rock radio station here) yesterday they brought it up, and everyone agreed that something has to be done about gun violence NOW, and everyone agreed that although the liberals proposed solution doesn’t solve the problem, its a bigger start than anyone else is showing us. Also, I don’t think their proposal stops at gun legislation; there is a bunch in there about harsher penalties and increased law enforcement. I believe a big part of that 500 plus million bucks is the law enforcement…

]]> By: My Toronto » Blog Archive » Gun Ban http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2340 My Toronto » Blog Archive » Gun Ban Fri, 09 Dec 2005 13:52:54 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/#comment-2340 [...] Is the proposed ban on handguns attacking the symptom or the cause of the problem? For all the public relations the Liberals attempted to gain with this proposed law, the reality is a lot more needs to be done to curb gun-related violence. This includes community centres, well-funded social services, job-training and life-skills programs, we well as enough police resources. Does it strike anyone as opportunistic that we’ve had months of gun-related violence, and it’s only when Paul Martin is trying to save his job that he shows up at the scene of the “crimes”? For insight into this problem, check out Alec Saunders post in which talk shows that Martin is willing to spend $590 million to address 112 handgun-related deaths. [...] [...] Is the proposed ban on handguns attacking the symptom or the cause of the problem? For all the public relations the Liberals attempted to gain with this proposed law, the reality is a lot more needs to be done to curb gun-related violence. This includes community centres, well-funded social services, job-training and life-skills programs, we well as enough police resources. Does it strike anyone as opportunistic that we’ve had months of gun-related violence, and it’s only when Paul Martin is trying to save his job that he shows up at the scene of the “crimes”? For insight into this problem, check out Alec Saunders post in which talk shows that Martin is willing to spend $590 million to address 112 handgun-related deaths. [...]

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