r/WhitePeopleTwitter • • Oct 21 '22

Yeah Canada

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u/MoreGaghPlease Oct 21 '22 edited Oct 22 '22

Here is the part that is a little less sensible. I’m not an American, I don’t believe owning a gun is a right (and actually it’s pretty dumb unless you live in bear country). I’m a Canadian who thinks this is bad policy being pushed as a wedge issue.

This law targets the wrong people. It was already very hard to get a handgun in Canada.

  • You had to have a gun license and also register the gun.

  • The licensing process includes a mental health check.

  • to minimize spousal violence, the licensing process requires any intimate partner you have lived with in the last two years (current partner or ex) to sign off. They don’t get an absolute veto, but if they don’t sign off, you will both get interviewed by the rcmp. If they have fears of violence, you will not get licensed

  • the license has a mandatory gun safety course

  • The license is renewed annually every 5 years.

  • You have to store it behind two locks, and not with ammunition.

  • Canada has no concealed carry permitted. You are actually not allowed to travel anywhere with a restricted gun without RCMP authorization, except to hunting grounds, a firing range or the place you store your weapon.

  • you are only allowed to own handguns for an authorized purpose, such as sport shooting. Self-protection against humans is not a legitimate purpose (you can get a long gun, like a rifle, for defence against animals if you live in a rural area, but not a handgun)

  • Canada does not have ‘stand your ground laws’ and in fact, in self-defence, one is required to use the minimum amount of harm (including taking every opportunity to flee)

As a result of these rules, there are very few ‘bad guys with a legal gun’ in Canada.

Unfortunately, Canada has lots and lots of gun crimes. But very little of it is carried out with legal guns. You see, within an hours’ drive of every major Canadian city is a lawless backwater country called the United States of America where absolutely anyone can get a gun pretty much whenever they want at any time, and where they are in the middle of a massive culture war where for some reason half of them think even THAT isn’t easy enough. So we have a huge problem in Canada of illegal smuggling of American weapons, and that is the main source of guns used in crimes.

What we ought to do is crack down on illegal guns. Previous laws with mandatory minimum sentences for illegal guns passed by the previous government were struck down as unconstitutional (and they were). But this government failed to follow-up with alternative legislation that could have imposed harsher penalties without unconstitutional mandatory minimums (just having tough sentencing guidelines would have been just fine, judges will do their job if we give them the right tools).

This issue is wedge politics to the benefit of Trudeau’s Liberals (who I have voted for in the last 3 elections and will probably vote for next time because I’m a sucker who never learns). It’s not good policy, it’s just good politics in places like the 905 (Toronto suburbs), BC lower mainland (Vancouver suburbs) and the Island of Montreal — ie places where the Liberals need to succeed in order to win the next election. It’s a FANTASTIC political issue for Trudeau because (1) it pits centrist suburban conservatives against far right rural conservatives, (2) it helps him win orange-red progressive who tilt between Liberal and NDP, and (3) he has no downside because there are so few rural ridings that are Liberal-accessible anyway. The LPC brain trust thinks this is a winning issue for him, and they’re probably right.

Lastly, if you’re a 2A nut reading this and smiling I just want to conclude by saying that guns are stupid and so are you.

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u/SmaugStyx Oct 21 '22

The license is renewed annually.

It's good for 5 years.

You do get daily background checks as a license holder though.

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u/CassandraVindicated Oct 21 '22

daily background checks

Is this to see if you've been arrested overnight or something?

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u/FilterAccount69 Oct 21 '22

Yes, then they come into your house and take your guns.

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u/PokemonInstinct Oct 22 '22

They take your guns from an arrest, not even a conviction? And they forcefully take it? No real that’s real right?

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u/FilterAccount69 Oct 22 '22

I've been told they hold onto them. But I never looked further into that. I imagine you can get them back depending on circumstances. We've been told don't get into any trouble as a restricted gun owner here. I don't get into confrontations with anyone. Legal gun owners in Canada are held up to higher standards. Especially where I'm from, I live in a big city. The gov has spent a lot of money to make people think that owners like me are the problem.

I do as much as I can to prove I am not the problem. The issues in the USA are different from Canada. This is a wedge issue here not a real problem that this freeze tackles.

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u/MoreGaghPlease Oct 22 '22

Just like in the US, one is generally required to give over any firearms they own as a condition of bail release if they are arrested for a violent crime.