January 9, 2001
Kamloops Daily News


Although I support gun control, I understand the
frustrations of gun owners.  Like thousands of Canadians, I
sold my rifle which I owned for 35 years rather than go
through the hassle of registering it.

I would have registered the rifle if owning a firearm was
important to me.   I'm not offended that Canada's new
Firearms Act would let police and regulatory agencies know
that I have a rifle.  Law-abiding citizens have nothing to
hide when it comes to something as crucial as firearms.

Those who oppose gun control say that it's a bad law because
it requires law-abiding citizens to register guns while
criminals won't bother.   But it's not just the criminals we
have to worry about.  Most murders are committed by an
family member, friend, co-worker, or acquaintance who have
no criminal record. 
   							
Until a gun owner does something criminal, you can't tell
the good guys from the bad.  Peaceful, law-abiding citizens
can do criminal acts.  Take the example of James Watson who
was shot and killed near Kamloops a few years ago, and his
body stuffed in a shallow grave.

Watson and few friends got together to watch hockey on TV
and drink beer.  Their favourite team lost and emotions ran
high.  They drove into the countryside to shoot a moose (out
of season).   In a careless moment fuelled by emotion and
booze,  Watson was shot.  His friend thought he was a wild
animal as he stumbled through the woods.

While its true that other weapons can kill, let's rewind the
above scene. But instead of holding a gun, Watson's friend
holds a knife.  Watson stumbles out of the bush.  He is
faced by his startled friend. But in a time longer than it
takes to pull a trigger, his friend realizes he is no animal
and a tragic death is averted.

Of course, the above is not an example of what responsible
hunters do.  Real hunters don't stumble through the bush in
a drunken stupor.  It is an example of what ordinary people
in extraordinary circumstances do with a gun in their hands. 
Would Watson be alive if guns and ammunition were harder
get?  I think so.

The Firearms Act will also reduce the number killings of
women who are murdered by their husbands.  The Act requires
that threats against women and domestic violence will
automatically cause a review of a gun owner's license.

If the Firearms Act had been in place in the spring of 1996,
Rajwar Gakhal would be still alive.  Her estranged husband,
Mark Chahal, had obtained a gun permit despite her
complaints to police that Chahal had made threats against
her.  At a family gathering in Vernon, Chahal shot and
killed her and eight family members before killing himself.

It's not just the murder of women that's the problem.  For
every women killed, thousands of others live in fear and
intimidation.  And the damage to children who grow up in a
climate of abuse is life-long.  They live in fear, or they 
learn that the way to intimidate others is to stick a gun in
their face.  No wonder that women strongly favour gun
control-- 89 per cent for women compared to 75 per cent for
men.

It's true that women will still be murdered if their
husbands have no guns at all.  They will be stabbed,
bludgeoned, throttled, and beat to death.  It's been
suggested that even a vehicle could be used.  But in these
times of the TV remote control, and the point-and-click
computer mouse, guns are the weapon of convenience.  Why
make murder convenient?

Guns don't kill people.  People with a loose grip on reality
and tight grip on their firearms do.  With the squeeze of
the trigger, they will correct every perceived wrong done to
them, and blow away every demon that haunts them. 

Since many gun-related deaths are not caused by criminals,
but by seemingly ordinary Canadians, we have two choices. 
We could psychoanalyse every gun owner to try to determine
who is potentially unstable, or we can make it more
difficult for all Canadians to get guns.   The first choice
would result in an intrusion and expense worse than any gun
owner's nightmare.  Gun registration is a nuisance and
expensive, ... and necessary.  

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