Criminals won't obey gun laws

I keep seeing in the news where some people want more "gun control." Their ultimate goal seems to be a law that bans the possession of a gun by anybody.

For those who may think a criminal is going to read about such a law and say to himself, "Oh, my goodness! I can't have a gun so I guess I can't be an armed robber anymore," I would ask these people, "What is the definition of a criminal?"

A criminal is someone who does not obey the law. If he is not concerned about the laws against murder, armed robbery, forcible rape, home invasion, carjacking, drive-by shooting, ad infinitum, why is he going to obey this gun law?

The only thing this will really accomplish is to leave the law-abiding citizens, who will obey the law and turn in their guns, completely at the mercy of armed criminals. All law-abiding citizens should have the right to own a gun if they choose.

Get a gun, learn how to use it and put it in a safe place where it will stay and never harm anyone as long as it is left alone. It will never, on its own, commit a crime.

Our laws should be directed at the person who picks the gun up and uses it illegally, not at the gun itself.

Some people seem to think we don't need a gun because we have the police. The average response time to a 911 call is 22 minutes. An armed criminal can cause a lot of havoc in 22 minutes.

The question here is, is it better to have a gun and not need it, or to need a gun and not have it?

By: Arthur Pirkle, The Yuma Sun

Ammo sales, prices skyrocket

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. firearms owners have bought an estimated 12 billion rounds of ammunition during the past year, gun industry analysts said.

The figure far outstrips the 7 billion to 10 billion rounds sold in a typical year, The Washington Post reported Monday. The spike in sales began when people started to take seriously warnings from the gun lobby that with Democrats controlling the White House and Congress there would be new restrictions on gun ownership, the newspaper said.

As consumers stepped up purchases, supplies tightened, prices went up and a shortage developed. The shortage has begun to ebb and gun-control advocates are expressing concern about the record amount of stockpiled ammunition, the Post said.

"We've had people buy ammunition for calibers they don't even have the gun for: 'Oh, I want to get this gun eventually. And when I get it, ammunition may be hard to get,'" Michael Tenny, who runs an Internet sporting gods store based in Fort Worth, Texas.

U.S. taxes on guns and ammunition -- which are used to fund wildlife conservation -- increased after Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992 and after Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. At the current rate those tax receipts will set a record in 2009.

By: United Press International

Martin will vote against gun bill
PARLIAMENT: Sault MP will not support move to scrap registry

He plans on voting against a Conservative private member's bill later this week that, if passed, would see the abolishment of the Canadian gun registry.

Bill C-391, put forth by MP Candice Hoeppner (Portage-Lisgar), and now into second reading, would ultimately abolish the registry for long-gun owners.

It also proposes to destroy all existing registration records for long-gun owners.

Martin, who admits that the gun registry system isn't perfect, said it is endorsed by many groups and associations, including the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, and is a tool used to protect society as a whole.

Recently, the Sault Ste. Marie Conservative Association called on Martin to support the bill and end the registry, which the Conservatives call wasteful and ineffective.

The campaign, which includes radio ads paid for by the Conservative Association, encourages area residents to make their views known to Martin prior to the Nov. 4 vote.

The Conservatives are also pointing the finger at Liberals, who initially implemented the legislation.

Martin said he's received a number of phone calls but won't change his position on the issue.

"I understand the strong sentiments of the area residents and I've given this issue long and hard thought," Martin said. "but the statistics show that violence with long guns has been reduced significantly since the registry was brought in and that's sufficient enough to support retaining the registry."

Conservative association president Josh Pringle said "it's obvious that Mr. Martin is not listening to his constituents."

Pringle called the registry, established under a Liberal government, "a complete disaster" that needs to be scrapped.

"The time is now for Mr. Martin to listen to his constituents and use his free vote as they request," Pringle said.

Sault Ste. Marie's federal Liberal candidate Christian Provenzano said the issue is about politics and not policy.

He charged that the Conservatives, over the past four elections, have run against the gun registry but haven't introduced a government bill to scrap it.

"If they were serious about it, it would be a government bill, not a private member's bill," Provenzano said.

"The core issue here is not about gun control but about how to implement a registry to law abiding farmers and hunters and gun owners without infringing on their rights," he said, arguing that abolishing the registry is not the answer.

Provenzano said he's spoken to many gun owners, hunters and farmers about the issue, one that he is personally working on.

Martin agreed that instead of having the registry scrapped, he'd rather see changes made to it that will increase its effectiveness, reduce intrusiveness and lower costs of maintaining it.

He also wants to see the Canadian government working closer with the U. S. government to reduce gun smuggling, put more police on the streets, increase funding to keep kids out of gangs, add more guns to the list of restricted weapons and take stronger measures to limit the sales of guns on the Internet.

Provenzano said that he would "rather fail while trying to unite the people rather than succeed by trying to divide them," a common tactic he says is used by Conservatives.

By: Elaine Della, The Sault Star