Every now and then, an anti-gunner steps into it to a degree that is just glorious to behold.
While I prefer it to be an American anti-gunner, I'll take what I can get.
A prime example of this is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He recently touted his gun control success and was immediately smacked down by a Toronto law enforcement group. It was funny and I wrote about it.
But it seems it wasn't just cops in Toronto that wanted a piece of the prime minister.
The Surrey Police Union echoed these concerns, emphasizing that the federal handgun freeze fails to address the influx of illegal firearms into Canadian communities. With officers risking their lives daily to combat gang violence, they question how community safety can be ensured when most seized firearms trace back to smuggling operations across the border.
Similarly, the Vancouver Police Union lamented Trudeau’s apparent ignorance of the ongoing gang violence in British Columbia, directly linking this crisis to the availability of illegal firearms. They challenge the prime minister to address the real sources of violence rather than penalizing responsible gun owners.
The York Regional Police Association added some cold hard facts, expressing disappointment that Trudeau's statements do not reflect the harsh realities faced by officers. Statistics show a troubling increase in firearm-related violent crime during his tenure, further underscoring the ineffectiveness of his approach.
The handgun "freeze," which makes it illegal to buy, sell, or otherwise transfer a handgun to anyone doesn't actually deal with the underlying issues that lead to violent crime. So, criminals are still buying, selling, or otherwise transferring handguns anytime they want while the law-abiding folks there take it on the chin.
The problem with Trudeau is that he claimed a victory that simply didn't exist. He bragged about his actions but was either ignoring the situation surrounding those actions or what blissfully unaware.
Criminals don't follow laws.
Because they don't follow laws, government action that impacts the law-abiding won't be followed. There wasn't a single Canadian bad guy who was worried about not being able to get a firearm after the freeze was announced. They knew they'd still do whatever it was they wanted.
And after the freeze was announced, violent crime surged all throughout Canada. It almost sounds like the kind of thing we typically predict would happen after you basically ban handguns.
Let's note that these are law enforcement organizations from across the nation, and they're lashing out at Trudeau--who didn't actually say the freeze worked, for the record, though it is heavily implied. They're not ready to pretend that the freeze was a good thing when it's clear as day it didn't work. Trudeau didn't use the words "it worked" but he did say that he chose people's safety over the gun lobby, but what's happened is that people are less safe and they're unable to obtain the kinds of firearms they'd probably want to defend themselves with.
He made a play and it backfired spectacularly.
The problem is that he won't listen to any of these organizations. He won't change his mind about the freeze. Why? Because it was never about people's safety. It was about keeping people beholden to the government for as much as they can get away with.
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