The AR-15 is just and foremost a toy for big boys. There is no place or purpose for an automatic or semi-automatic rifle at the shooting range or while hunting, except to entertain the one pulling the trigger.
Take into account that firearms of any description, for most of us, do not have any bearing on our safety, survival, or for sources of food.
What does that leave but recreation, and a pretty deadly recreation it is, considering that guns, and particularly this one, are designed for killing.
Bob Zimmer would have us believe that anyone that owns a gun is an expert and should have a voice in how firearms restrictions are implemented.
The fact that the AR-15 is a popular rifle, (in some jurisdictions) is no reason to conclude that just because it is popular it should not have severe restrictions on its use.
Just because 25,000 people (in Canada), think that it is okay to lift restrictions on the AR-15, what about the other 30-plus million of us?
What if there was a small interest group that decided that throwing live hand grenades was a wonderful sport? Say that they somehow got it through legislation that it was okay to carry and throw grenades, with some restrictions, (like not throwing them in the food court at the mall or not carrying them to school in your backpack).
Would it be okay then for this group to lobby government, ostensibly through the likes of Bob Zimmer, to rescind restrictions on their use?
As far fetched as this would seem on the surface, we are not a big step away. Our gluttonous appetite for more violence goes on unabated.
The RCMP is not a special interest group.
Their only agenda is to enforce the law and advise lawmakers of the dangers of not restricting the use of some firearms.
Since the RCMP have the most encompassing control over use of firearms and enforcing the law as it stands, should they not have the final say in advising how the law reads?
There may have been one individual announcing the RCMP decision on firearms restrictions, (as Zimmer has claimed). I doubt that the wording was concocted by any one individual, but more likely a panel of experts educated and concerned about the safety of the public.
I hope that Bob Zimmer can get educated on what most of his constituents are really most concerned about. I'm betting it is not about lifting restrictions on guns. Possibly he could enlighten us on how many people in his own riding signed the mentioned petition.
Robert Clayton
Prince George
