I want to and will respect the wishes of both Dave, because he has created this forum for us all, as well as all the members. I am posting in this thread because I believe the Canadian experience, like the British and Australian, should be a cautionary tale for Americans. I strongly believe that we got to where we got to in Canada because too many of us put our heads in the sand, myself included, until it was too late.
I'm a bird hunter, what do the hand gun regulations have to do with me? I like old shotguns, what do black guns have to do with me?
It took a lot to wake us all up. And it has taken a lot more to start to roll back some of the most obvious foolishness. What I see often posted is the idea that "It can't happen here" or "It's not my kind of guns that are the problem." That there are checks and balances that protect you and your interests. I think, in different ways, Lonesome Road's and Gnomon's recent posts exemplify that approach.
I speak from personal experience, so I admit to having skin in this game. Briefly, I have spent the last two years under a court order to have all my guns removed from my home. It has been lifted effective April 15, 2012. Why you might ask? Very simple. I caught my wife of 17 years in an affair with a close friend of mine. We separated. To gain advantage in court room/back room negotiations, her lawyer described me as a potential threat. No evidence, no discussion, no hearing, just accusation and action by the courts. It has been lifted because we came to a separation agreement, not because there is any evidence I now longer pose a potential threat, but because it no longer has use as a tactic by my ex wife and her lawyer. There is not one single shred of evidence that could portray me as unreliable, unstable or untruthful. I have been a gun owner for almost 40 years without any incident of any type. I have been employed by the same firm, mine, for the last 35 years. The worst offense I am guilty of in my life is speeding. But in Canada, the gun owner is a bad man, a crime, a shooting spree waiting to happen.
The main internet gun forum in Canada is called gunnutz and because it includes members from all disciplines and covers all possible subjects relating to firearms, it has brought gun owners together POLITICALLY in a way no other organization has. Gunnutz is unfunded, except as required to keep it up on the internet. It is not a lobby group per se. We have nothing like the NRA in terms of a strongly financed, powerful lobby group.
The kind of action I have described against gun owners, and far worse, happens multiple times daily in Canada. It is not reported in the MSM. Without Gunnutz, even those of us in the community would have no sense of just how widespread the abuse is, no idea how skewed the behavior of our police, crown attorneys and judges are towards gun owners. We would only have the vague notion that the MSM is against us.
Gunnutz was also a clearing house for information during our last federal election about what we could do as individuals, as it was happening, to help defeat the most vocal anti gun Members of Parliament. Mobilizing and organizing volunteers during the actual election campaign, aligned not specifically to a party, but to the outcome we all aim for. And it worked!
The first section of Gunnutz is titled FIREARMS POLITICS and the first forum in that is FIREARMS POLITICS NEWS ARTICLES. The positioning means it is the first thing you see when you log in and , because of it's positioning, has become almost required reading for all members. Yes, we can scroll down to the real area of firearms or hunting interest we logged on for, but human nature is what it is.
My recommendation to Dave would be that a new, separate "firearms political news" forum be created, as he has in the past when there has been enough interest in a particular subject, and that it be the first on the list. Not have the subject buried in misfires at the bottom of the page.
My main point in my posts on this subject would be that without a clearing house of information, you may be surprised at the actual state of affairs. Accurate knowledge is never a bad thing.
You have the benefit of the second amendment. However I think that also creates a false sense of security. Rest assured, they are coming for your guns, by whatever tactics they can muster. I think that is what so many miss. The antis are not giving up. Their reasoning is emotional, not grounded in fact, and so can never be swayed. They are true believers in the righteousness of their efforts. And like so many true believers, utterly wrong.
Good luck!
Also, I sort of apologize for being long and wordy. I just happen to like writing! Here is where I would insert a smilie face if I knew how.
Last edited by canvasback; 02/09/12 10:31 AM.
