Dear Editor:
I recently came across a column in your publication by Thom Barker entitled "Guns (out of) Control". As a law abiding Canadian citizen and legal gun owner I felt compelled to write to you to express my disagreement with the comments made by Mr Barker and to point out a glaring contradiction in his argument that only serves to highlight the largest and most important issue surrounding firearms in this country.
In the beginning of his editorial Mr Barker states "Putting politicians in charge of policing themselves is simply like the proverbial fox and chicken coop". However, he soon makes it clear that this observation only applies to situation he feels are acceptable. He goes on to say "So, it makes sense that the body responsible for classifying firearms would be independent of Parliament.
I was surprised, however, when friends told me the RCMP had recently banned a certain type of rifle. "That can't be right," I said. "Why would the RCMP have responsibility for that?"
When I first read this I had hope that perhaps Mr Barker represented a level headed and reasonable approach to the issue of firearms in this country. But his next few paragraphs only proved he is as single minded and blind as so many politicians and media personnel. Comments like "I looked at some pictures of these things and there is no question they are military style weapons." and "The gun lobby lamely tried to claim the Classic Green is used for hunting. Yeah, right. This is a weapon made for one thing and one thing only, killing people." are graphic proof that Mr Barker feels that how something looks ultimately decides what it does. Is this the general opinion of your publication?
The Swiss Arms Classic Green rifle is patterned after a military rifle... That is true. However, the fact that a rifle is or was used by the military does not mean that it is only used for killing people in battle. This rifle has been used by good, law abiding Canadians for over a decade for simple target practice and, to Mr Barkers surprise, hunting. Do you know what one thing it has not been used for, not a single time in its 10 year existence in this country? Killing people. Not once.
How can a person like Mr Barker, who appears to be well educated, suggest that a rifle that has not been used to harm a single human in over 10 years is "a weapon made for one thing and one thing only, killing people." If this were true, the Swiss Arms Classis Green would be the most useless piece of equipment in history because clearly it hasn't accomplished its only purpose in 10 years.
Instead of wasting your time using scare tactics to convince people guns kill other people strictly because of how they look, perhaps you should be spending more time considering and looking more closely at the people who are killing and harming others. Irrefutable evidence proving legally owned firearms in the hands of responsible Canadians are no more dangerous than a common kitchen knife which can be found in minutes. Irrefutable evidence proving nearly all firearms related incidents in this country involve illegal guns brandished by criminals is equally as easy to find.
Perhaps Mr Barker should do some more research before jumping on the ill informed "guns are the problem" band wagon.
Luke Lester
Ontario
