Dear Editor:
I am writing in regards to an article posted by one of your reporters in regards to the Swiss arms Rifle in the article entitled "Guns out of Control", it is really full of mis-information and basic anti-gun hysteria .
Just to give you some insight into my expertise with firearms and authority to comment on this subject, I am a former Veteran Peace Officer, I also served in the armed private security industry for a number of years as well, I have trained professional armed guards in the past, have taken commercial courses on gunsmithing, and have been a private target shooter since 1979 in Canada, so trust me I know more about firearms than the people working in the RCMP lab itself.
Firstly, the Swiss Arms Rifle is a "very expensive" $3-4,000 semi automatic sporting rifle used for target and competition shooting.
This rifle may have an 'exterior" purely cosmetic military style appearance but that's where the similarities end to "actual" military rifles. Let me explain the difference for the all the non-gun owning readers.
Semi-automatic means that the firearm expels one bullet at a time with each and every singular subsequent pull of the trigger. However actual military rifles" are usually constructed to fire in either "Fully-automatic" or "selective" capability. "Fully-automatic" means that "Multiple bullets are expended with each singular pull of the trigger," this also allows for continuous fire until the operator either releases pressure off the trigger or until all the ammunition is expended from the magazine.
It must be stressed however that neither Fully-automatic or selective fire rifles are available for sale to civilians in Canada in any gun shop across Canada as their possession is strictly limited to the Military, Police and Bona-Fide Gun Collectors who possessed them prior to the Liberals firearms act coming into force.
The Swiss arms or any other semi-automatic civilian sold rifle in Canada for that matter is not easily and readily convertible to full-auto mode of operation because for one thing the parts to make any such illegal conversion are not available for civilian purchase in Canada and those who claim you can order such parts online are either total idiots or are completely unaware that customs officials screen all packages coming into Canada and if you are caught attempting to import such parts you will be facing criminal charges. The RCMP are paid to enforce laws not create them. .Only Parliament has the authority to ban firearms in Canada. The author claims they find it disturbing that 10,000 of these sporting Swiss arms rifles are in Canada. Why, they are no more dangerous than any other inanimate object in Canada and the people who possess them are fully screened via criminal background checks and mental health checks to legally possess them The firearms themselves are limited to holding 5 rounds-like any other rifle in Canada. So what's with the anti-gun emotional hysteria?
I find it much more disturbing that some elitist Liberal can acquire an exotic sports car that is capable of speeds in excess of 200 mph, have a few drinks and get behind the wheel and pretend they are Mario Andretti. Statistics show more people are killed annually in Canada by automobiles and intoxicated drivers than by firearms and no one needs vehicles capable of such dangerous speeds when clearly the posted speed limits prohibit such excess speed, so you see that argument works both ways and in the end it's not about "need" it's about an individuals "rights" to own whatever property they wish to own, provided the property is legally available for sale in Canada.
The next point the author of this article makes is attempting to insult the intelligence of readers, by calling the "Gun Culture- an insane culture."
Okay that statement alone speaks volumes about the authors own ignorance about guns in Canada and the people who own them .
Gun owners make up every aspect of Canadian society from CEO'S to construction workers and everything in between. Women are becoming a massive part of Canadian firearms owners across the country -making up about 30 % of all gun owners in Canada and climbing, as more and more women realize how safe and fun the sport really is .
Perhaps the author is unaware that firearms are used for target sport shooting, competition shooting, this includes handguns, rifles, and shotguns, Firearms are even used for National Olympic sport Competitions which includes both handguns and rifles. In addition each province has its own provincial competitions for each of the above mentioned classes of firearms.
If reporters like this author spent a fraction of their time actually educating themselves about firearms in Canada and spend some time with real gun owners at a gun club, then perhaps they would save themselves the embarrassment from sounding so uneducated and hysterical.
A reporters job is to investigate the facts from both sides of a debate, not simply give their own biased uneducated opinion.
So please do everyone a favor Mr. Barker go educate yourself about firearms and leave the propaganda at home.
Robert Mazurek
Winnipeg, Manitoba
