Fil-Cans weigh in on proposed handgun freeze

Fil-Cans weigh in on proposed handgun freeze

By Michelle Chermaine Ramos

LJI Reporter

The Philippine Reporter

Klemens Laylo, student

Klemens Laylo, 17-year-old student at St. Pope John Paul II, Scarborough, ON

I think he (Prime Minister Trudeau) has the right idea. He wants to protect children and that’s the gist of it, but I think he’s approaching this the wrong way. I know he’s putting a freeze on handguns to prevent the transaction of guns across the country, but I think that he underestimates how much criminals can go under the radar. There are unimaginable crimes that criminals can do that can bypass any laws or policies by the government. Another thing is the taking away of firearms licenses of those involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, I think that is kind of redundant because I guess most instances of gun violence happen through illegal firearms.

I do think this heightens concern in Canada especially since the recent shootings and the sheer number of children that have been killed. It’s crazy that in this country where peacekeeping is our motto that gun violence is still occurring and that does make me a little afraid to go to school everyday especially since there have been acts of violence near my neighborhood, near my school too. I think recently a stranger was spotted with a handgun and he hasn’t really done anything to harm any of our students but there’s been a sighting and that really concerns me. I haven’t personally witnessed it myself, but I heard that there has been a sighting just outside campus.

Oliver Salvador, Security Consultant

Oliver Salvador, Security

Consultant, Edmonton, AB

As someone who has put on firearms courses, and also as a firearms owner and former armed security professional, I will only say this…once this is in full effect, if there is even a single crime involving an illegally obtained, non-registered handgun, then the current government will have proven itself wrong. And when that happens, it may be perceived as justifiable in some people’s views for law-abiding firearms owners to disobey what could be perceived by some as unjust and targeted legislation that is ineffective in preventing firearms crime, as that is the stated purpose of the legislation—to make Canadians safer.

R.P., Mother of children

ages 9, 7 and 5

in Fort Erie, ON

For me, it’s better that there are no more guns or drugs. If Trudeau is going to take away guns, he might as well take away drugs. Now everyone has access to weed so why won’t he remove that also if he’s removing guns? He’s infuriating, actually. He’s taking away guns, but he legalized weed. What about the children who will grow up knowing they can buy weed? I’m worried about my kids. I’m making them aware of gun violence because I’m paranoid. And not only that, I warned them about everything about  safety. I’m worried now because I enrolled them in summer school to catch up for the two years they fell behind because of COVID-19. For the

=Oliver Salvador, Security Consultant

first time, I won’t be able to drop them at school and they’re going to travel 15 minutes by school bus so I’m nervous and will have to remind them about these things again.   

Archie Luz, Firearms Instructor

Archie Luz, Firearms Licensing Instructor/Examiner

and Range Safety Officer,

Springbrook, ON

My opinion on this proposed bill is that it’s not going to solve the problem. If anything, it’s usually a political move. They make the perception as though they’re protecting the public, but the amount of issues that have arisen from legally owned firearms is pretty much next to none. There really has never been an issue where a legally owned gun was involved in a crime war. The vast majority of crimes has been committed by criminals, who acquired guns through illegal sources, usually smuggled in from the United States. The big controversy with this law is it’s punishing law-abiding citizens that have gone through stringent background checks, have taken courses and do their due diligence to keep on top of the laws because they can change and they will follow it.

To give you an example, when they banned what they called assault rifles, the AR-15 was targeted. AR doesn’t even stand for assault rifle. It stands for ArmaLite rifle, which is the manufacturer. They’ve roughly addressed AR-15s as assault rifles or assault weapons, which isn’t the case. A true assault weapon is something that the military would use that would fire in full automatic format like a machine gun. All we’re allowed to own are semiautomatics and that’s always been the case.

The problem too, is that the legislation has also been lightened on gun crimes and criminals, especially gang members, are getting away with a slap on the wrist. They’re released back on the streets committing the same crimes over again. The money should be put towards fixing up the law, making sure that these people get locked up for good, not focusing on people that were never the problem in the first place. Law abiding citizens that have passed their safety courses have gone through extremely stringent background checks and continue to go through automatic background checks on a daily basis once they’re licensed.

Sylvia, grandmother

in Toronto, ON

I’m afraid of guns myself so I’m not pro it. I had a friend who played Russian roulette and shot himself on his birthday. The guy who owned the gun thought he cleaned everything but there was one bullet he didn’t see. My husband said there’s always one in the chamber way inside that’s hard to see if you’re not used to it. I’m anti-gun because I just think that if there were no guns in existence there would be no war at all. There’s nothing to shoot with.