Canadian Gun Control

[LifeNRA]

Canadian gun control foes take fight to UN conference

Latest federal regulations will make buying firearms unnecessarily expensive, they argue

STEVEN EDWARDS
CanWest News Service


Monday, July 11, 2005

A United Nations gun control conference opening today will see Canadian gun owners seek international backing against new federal regulations, which they say will make hunting unnecessarily costly.

The latest measures require most imported guns, from next April, to be marked on a part of the firearm the owners say will add up to $200 to the sales price.

The owners believe support from other countries will make it easier to pressure Ottawa to cancel or revise the regulations, which specify the gun's receiver must identify Canada as the country of importation, and also show the year of arrival.

They say that even the UN, in rules finalized last month, leaves it up to individual countries where to place country and year markings on the firearm, if they're placed at all.

"We believe Canadian delegates at this week's conference will try to convince other countries that wording of the new UN agreement calls for the new Canadian marking standard," said Tony Bernado, political communications director of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association.

Tim Martin of the Department of Foreign Affairs will address the conference this morning, but declined advance comment.

Canadian gun owners and traders have for years complained they're being squeezed by an increasing barrage of domestic gun controls, some enacted to cut the number of illicit arms used in African, South American and other overseas conflicts.

The 191 member states of the UN General Assembly will be asked to approve the new international controls at this fall's 60th anniversary summit.

"Canada actively participated in the negotiation of this instrument and believes that it can make a positive contribution to the ability of law enforcement officials to trace illicit small arms," said Marie-Christine Lilkoff, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson.

Bernado says police can already quickly trace the origins of guns that have entered Canada through current data, which include serial numbers, manufacturer stamps and registration certificates.

"The thousands of weapons being used in civil wars in places like Africa have not come from gun owners across Canada," he said. "The new Canadian regulations are harassment of the gun-owning community."

But leading gun control advocates in Canada say international studies show that networks supplying the arms fuelling Third World conflicts also feed international crime groups operating in developed countries.

"This is about eliminating weapons used to fuel civil wars," said Antonio Evora, a UN disarmament expert. "It is not about taking guns away from law-abiding hunters in places like Alberta."

The receiver is the main part of a gun, so marking it is preferable to marking other components. Doing so is cheapest during the gun's manufacture.

But importation marks would normally be applied after manufacture, when components such as barrels can be cheaply stamped because they are almost always made of steel - unlike receivers, which come in different materials, including steel, aluminum, alloys and polymers.

"The only practical method of (marking them) is by computerized laser engraving ..." says a position paper Bernado will distribute at the UN conference. "But these units are ... into the tens of thousands of dollars."

Most new firearms in Canada are imported, so costs will "skyrocket, perhaps as much as $200 per gun," the paper adds. "Sales of new firearms in Canada will drastically drop and our importers, distributors and retailers (who are currently hanging on by their thumbs) will go out of business."

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

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"This is about eliminating weapons used to fuel civil wars," said Antonio Evora, a UN disarmament expert. "It is not about taking guns away from law-abiding hunters in places like Alberta."

[/ QUOTE ]

WRONG, WRONG WRONG.
And LIE, LIE, LIE.

It's always about taking away guns from law abiding citizens where ever they may live.

Just one more reason the UN has lost all credibility as an institution.

[buckee]

Yeah, and we don't have a constitution that protects us either.

[ParrotHead]

[ QUOTE ]
Just one more reason the UN has lost all credibility as an institution.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not really sure the UN was ever "crediable"

[ParrotHead]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, and we don't have a constitution that protects us either.

[/ QUOTE ]

Time for a civil uprising my friend.....

[buckee]

[ QUOTE ]
Time for a civil uprising my friend.....

[/ QUOTE ]

Last time Canadians tried that, the Government pulled out the War Measures Act to fight an "insurrection." The Government made sure they were protected in Canada. Nothing protects us though, unless of course your gay.

[fisherguy]

Buckee...let's not forget that the war measures act came out after radical Quebec seperatists kidnapped and killed a government official, and blew up a building in Ottawa.
The only thing that will end these gun control laws is if the population of Canada take an ideological right turn. Unfortunately too large a portion of the population is urban residents with very left wing ideals.

[stevebeilgard]

the u.n. is historically an anti-gun organization with no credibility. don't expect this skunk to change it's stripe.

[wtnhunt]

Why is the UN dictating to Canada what they will do with their gun laws?

[HuntingInMaine]

[ QUOTE ]
Why is the UN dictating to Canada what they will do with their gun laws?

[/ QUOTE ]

Please correct me if I am wrong (and I know you all will! LOL) but I think the UN is trying to dictate gun laws to the entire world. It's probably easier for them to attack one country at a time.

[wtnhunt]

Why is Canada allowing the UN to attempt to dictate their laws to them? The UN has no right to tell countries what they can and cannot do in regards to gun control laws or any laws for that matter.