I spent years living in islands of gun control sanity.
On these islands everyone was issued a gun but none were carried without cause.
Fort Jackson, South Carolina, was such an island in a vast sea of barely-controlled gun ownership and use.
On this base, every soldier was issued a rifle. Weapons were stored in armouries except when signed out for drills and target practice.
We knew what they were for.
They were not toys. Ammunition was closely monitored. Only military police went about with loaded weapons. There were no shootings on this base.
Canadians, unlike Americans, have laws restricting, type, ownership and use of firearms.
We do not rely of a supposed "right" in an ancient paper to allow us to pack lethal firearms when and where we please.
Police carry weapons as do some security guards and others with legitimate needs.
Guns can be stored and used at firing ranges.
Farmers use guns to protect livestock and crops.
Hunters use rifles.
Soldiers use guns as "tools of the trade."
I do not recognize gun collecting as a legitimate hobby.
Firearms accumulations, even in the hands of responsible citizens, are vulnerable to misuse or theft by criminals.
Let them collect postage stamps. Neither hunters nor farmers need rapid-fire military style semi-automatic weapons.
Those weapons too easily can fall into the hands of lunatics to be used in mass killings
The attempts by our members of Parliament to loosen controls on semi-automatic military weapons is perverse pandering to a vocal minority who want American-style freedom to possess and use deadly toys. Let us not open our society to a further spread of such weapons.
James Loughery
Prince George
