Climate change has been in the cross-hairs of many progressives for decades. To be fair and unbiased, climate change is a real thing, however it might not be exactly what our freedom hating friends are eluding to. Anti-civil rights policies and laws are sweeping the globe, and the climate is indeed changing; the political climate. Our neighbors to the north are no different, with measures being introduced to strip their citizens from their privileges to keep and bear arms. In the United States there are many who’d love to turn our enumerated rights into privileges to be doled out and played with at the whim of the government, but the keeping and bearing of arms is a right here, unlike in Canada.

It was reported that Canada has a new bill that has been introduced to help combat the scourge of so called “gun violence” and gang activity. The Firearm Violence Prevention Act is one such measure that has made its way into a pile of bills in waiting.  From the Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth:

“Gang-related homicides and violence continue to impact the safety of British Columbians. These incidents cause panic, are a drain on police resources and needlessly put the public at risk. It needs to stop,”

Sounds like Mr. Farnworth and his cohorts have this all figured out, what with him applauding these efforts and all. Taking a closer look at what the provisions of this bill aim to limit, you decide:

The act would create a new offence for drivers who transport an illegal gun and allow police to impound vehicles that flee officers or transport illegal firearms.

The act also contains measures aimed at keeping gang members out of firing ranges.

Additionally, the act would create new restrictions around imitation and low-velocity firearms, including a ban on their sale to minors.

[also]…bringing an imitation firearm onto school grounds would become illegal.

That list is nothing but a pile of feel good “do something” nonsense, straight out of the pages of gun control handbooks in the United States. Creating laws that essentially do nothing, rather than dutifully executing the laws that are already on the books. Nothing about those provisions will do anything to stop “gang-related homicides and violence”.

What is most troubling about this bill and many of the other freedom limiting laws that are being introduced in Canada is a key document the lawmakers are leaning on. There was a 2017 taskforce that was assembled to come up with solutions to the “gun violence” problem, and The Illegal Firearms Taskforce Final Report it produced has some intricate and maybe not so subtle wording. The report is broken up into four separate arenas where the curtailing of such violence can be achieved. One blurb from the section on “Education and Prevention” sticks out like a sore thumb:

Safe schools, student and parent education – Leveraging existing school-based programs to disrupt potentially violent antisocial behaviour, including the use of firearms, and to ensure the understanding of educators and parents on the factors and indicators related to violence prevention.

In that statement, the taskforce did a very sneaky thing. They paired “violent anti social behaviour” with “the use of firearms”. Are they declaring that any use of firearms is violent and anti-social?  Coming from Canada with a deep rooted tradition in hunting and rustic life, how would the constituents in more rural areas that rely on “the use of firearms” in their day to day lives for both sustenance and protection feel knowing their government feels this way about their lifestyle?

In their “Legislative Initiatives” section they have listed out laws which they allege will curb their epidemic of “gun violence”.  Two of the four proposed tactics are:

Imitation firearms – Legislation to control the access and use of readily available imitation firearms; to limit their risk to communities, first responders and those who possess them; and to disrupt early patterns of illegal firearms use by youth

Manufacture of untraceable firearms – Legislation to prohibit access to unmarked firearms parts and parts that can be assembled into illegal firearms

One could construe that this big push against “imitation firearms” has to do with the cultural appropriations to keep kids from playing with toy guns, as we’ve seen in certain jurisdictions in the United States like New Jersey. It’s just another stimulus/response measure to get people to think “guns = bad”.

The Firearm Violence Prevention Act is just one such proposed law that was extracted from the 138 page report. More of the same “do something” non-sense.  An increasing number of “gun control” bills are popping up to attack our friends to the north’s freedoms, and there is not much that they can do to stop it. When these laws are written in Canada, they are done so in such an iron clad manner that they will hold up to judicial scrutiny, and a legal challenge can cost millions of dollars, which prevents the average citizen from pursuing litigation.

At least Canadian gun owners have their opponent’s playbook.  What may come next?  What else are they thinking?  All of it and more can be read in The Illegal Firearms Taskforce Final Report and Canadian citizens that are freedom loving should be urged to read it.  Those in the United States and other civil-rights consciousness persons should also take a look, as you’ll find there seems to be an organized and concerted effort to thwart our liberties worldwide.

John Petrolino is a US Merchant Marine Officer, writer, author of “Decoding Firearms: An Easy to Read Guide on General Gun Safety & Use” and NRA certified pistol, rifle and shotgun instructor living under and working to change New Jersey’s draconian and unconstitutional gun laws. You can find him on the web at www.johnpetrolino.com on twitter at @johnpetrolino and on instagram @jpetrolinoiii