cuchulainn
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http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegNews/ws.ws-01-03-0012.html
Friday, January 3, 2003
Registration protests unmask Yank in us
Real issue is people's power
By TOM BRODBECK, CITY COLUMNIST
The only thing missing from this week's gun registration protest in Ottawa was someone reciting Charlton Heston's infamous anti-gun control cry, "Take my weapon? When you pry it from my cold, dead hands."
In fact, I was almost expecting the National Rifle Association mouthpiece to show up on Parliament Hill himself, clutching an old western-style rifle and lending a helping hand to his Canadian brothers-in-arms.
I love Canadian anti-gun registration protests because they unmask the American in us.
After all, what's more American than defending people's right to bear arms?
The notion that the only way to keep tyranny at bay is to protect every citizen's right to own a firearm is more American than apple pie, Sunday afternoon football and Milton Berle combined.
And it's a cultural reality that, whether we like it or not, has a home -- at least to some degree -- north of the 49th parallel.
What other issue would prompt an Alberta MLA to openly break the law and see other elected officials flirt with doing the same?
Alberta MLA Doug Griffiths has vowed to not register his firearms, a violation of Canada's controversial Firearms Act.
And Manitoba Alliance MP Howard Hilstrom (Selkirk-Interlake) hasn't registered his firearms yet, even though the deadline for doing so was midnight Tuesday.
'BILLION-DOLLAR BOONDOGGLE'
Thousands more across Canada are vowing to ignore the registration law, arguing that it's a waste of money and won't do anything to reduce crime.
But that's not the real reason these folks are willing to risk a criminal record for not registering their guns.
The fact the firearms registration fiasco has turned into a "billion-dollar boondoggle" has certainly earned C-68 opponents great public sympathy.
Let's face it, who's going to support a gun registration scheme that's costing taxpayers $1 billion and growing?
But that's not why the Ottawa protesters are willing to turn themselves in to the police rather than register their long guns.
If that was the reason, they'd be in Ottawa every other month protesting the latest gargantuan waste of taxpayers' money.
The real reason is that Ottawa's gun registration scheme is seen as a government power play to bolster the domination of the state over individuals.
Firearms represent power. And for many, it's the only power they feel they have left in a highly regulated, government-interventionist state such as Canada.
So, when government announces that it wants to compile a list of who has firearms and how many each person has, people naturally rebel with great hostility.
Firearm owners will grudgingly surrender half their annual earnings to government in taxes, they'll comply with mandatory, invasive Statistics Canada surveys and they'll even stand idly by while governments allow violent criminals to roam free.
But when government comes for their guns, they draw the line.
It's very American. It's very Charlton Heston.
And it may be a surprise to some, but it's very Canadian, too.
Copyright © 2003, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved.
