IF

Since, I am not a criminal or terrorist, the following legislation from 2004 is bugging me.

Bill C-10A (introduced December 23, 2004) adds regulations to our current set of ‘rules’ that will require all imported guns to be engraved with country specific markings by December 2, 2007. A letter from OFAH put’s it this way,

“Put simply, the effect of this marking system on the Canadian firearms industry and lawful firearms users, could be disastrous. The system will require that all imported firearms be marked with additional markings signifying the country and year of import. American manufacturers have already made it clear that they have no intention of complying, and stated that if the markings are made mandatory, it will be up to Canadian retailers to undertake this work. While the majority of retailers will be unable to do this because of the prohibitive cost, for those few who may be able to comply will pass the excessive cost along to the consumer, which will result in a price increase of $200 to $250 per firearm. Obviously, this will negatively impact upon the outdoor community and cause many retailers to close their doors.” Entire Article Here

I remember some “whoop-de-doo” about the United Nations getting together to discuss ways to keep terrorists and criminals from using guns, I guess it included harassing legal firearm users as well.

Who was the ‘smarty-pants’ that perked up part way through the UN meeting and said,

“I know! Why don’t we force gun manufacturers and distributors to spend money on equipment to etch the country of origin on all imported firearms. This way, terrorists and criminals will be careful not to use their firearms because they would know what country the gun came from. This could be so effective that they migh not even use their marked guns for evil deeds!”

Kudos to the person who seconded that motion.

It’s like saying registered motor vehicles with serial numbers will change the way people drive them. Oh wait…Cars are registered and they do have serial numbers. With measures like that why was this past Labour Day weekend the deadliest, since 2000, with 13 fatalities? OPP Commissioner Fantino explains it (describing the causes of the car accidents) best when he says this,

“It still comes back to human dynamics – people doing things they shouldn’t be doing, taking chances they shouldn’t be taking, and the consequences are tragic in far too many circumstances.” Entire Toronto Star Article Here

Guns, cars, knives, baseball bats, fists are only bad when idiots use them in evil ways. It all comes down to human dynamics. You can’t legislate that. Why would a criminal care about a serial number on their gun?! It could be filed off or more than likely stolen. Spend money and government resources in ways that target criminals and terrorists – not more paperwork and more serial numbers.