U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Canada Moves to Ban ‘Hate Speech’ Online, Punishable by a $40,000 Fine,” PJ Media reports.
“The law, Bill C-36, would enable citizens to bring legal claims against people who engage in ‘hate speech’ online, and if a member or panel of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal finds the accused guilty, the tribunal can … order the accused to pay compensation of up to $20,000 ‘to any victim’ … or order the accused to ‘pay a penalty of not more than $50,000 to the Receiver General’…”
And naturally, the leftist “leaders” of our neighbors to the north can’t pass up an opportunity to disarm their subjects. From the act’s first reading:
“Conditions — firearms (7) The provincial court judge shall consider whether it is desirable, in the interests of the defendant’s safety or that of any other person, to prohibit the defendant from possessing any firearm, cross-bow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive substance, or all of those things. If the judge decides that it is desirable to do so, the judge shall add that condition to the recognizance and specify the period during which it applies.”
There’s not much we can do about how much abuse Canadians are willing to put up with, but it did get me to thinking: What if a U.S. citizen were over there, got caught up in that net, and decided to say the hell with that, come home and flip them off from across the border? Would he be extraditable? And would his right to keep and bear arms here be infringed by our government?
That, in turn, reminded me of the case of Thomas Lamar Bean:
“As reported by the Associated Press, Bean was ‘a licensed federal firearms dealer when he was arrested in Mexico in March 1998. Before crossing the border for dinner, he had ordered his associates to remove any guns or ammunition from the vehicle, but more than 200 bullets in an armrest tray were overlooked. Bean spent 5 months in a Mexican prison before he was returned to the U.S. as part of a prisoner exchange program, then spent another month in a federal lockup.’”
Because he had a foreign felony conviction on his record, he became a “prohibited person” under U.S. law. While then-Gov. Rick Perry restored Bean’s rights under Texas law, the federal prohibition remained. Thanks to Chuck Schumer’s Democrat budget appropriations finagling, ATF is prohibited from using any funds to process applications to restore “felon” rights, and to make matters even more “Catch-22” bizarre, the U.S. Supreme Court then ruled “Inaction by ATF does not amount to a ‘denial’.” (Bean passed away in 2018 at the age of 79.)
In 2005’s Small v. United States, the Supreme Court, in three-to-five decision ruled that U.S. Code firearm prohibitions for persons “convicted in any court” of crimes for which they could have been sentenced to more than one year in prison” did not apply to foreign convictions. (Curiously, the so-called “conservatives” on the court were the ones who “argued that applying the law to foreign convictions was not irrational enough to rebut the usual meaning of the word ‘any.’”)
Not to be deterred in her lifelong quest to disarm anyone she can catch in her legislative net, Sen. Dianne Feinstein tried to pass the “No Firearms for Foreign Felons Act of 2009.” While she promised that foreign convictions violating U.S. due process or based on conduct that is legal under U.S. law would be exempt, her side of the aisle has been trying to pass similar “hate crime” prohibitions for years. If she had her druthers, a Canadian conviction would stick, and in any case, her fellow Dems have been working it.
“Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that he is introducing legislation that would keep guns out of the hands of those who commit criminal acts based on hate,” the Senator’s web page announced in June 2016. “The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would prohibit the purchase, possession or shipment of a firearm by anyone convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime or who received a hate crime sentence enhancement, and prohibit the sale of firearms to anyone reasonably suspected to be guilty of a misdemeanor hate crime.”
So not even guilty, just “suspected”…
He’s still at it, teaming up this time with perennial gun-grabber Rep, David Cicilline (D-naturally, RI) in a renewed effort drawing “applause” from the paid AstroTurfers at Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown.
Casey also called for all the other usual gun bans for everyone else that the antis are notorious for – revealing, if nothing else, a Jekyll/Hyde personality. This is the same politician who at other times in his career has gone on record claiming: “Strong supporter of the second amendment … Opposes Increased Regulation on Firearm Ownership … Opposes restricting the Second Amendment…”
You have to wonder if people like this suffer from clinical delusional disorders or if they’re just sociopathic liars who will say anything and betray anyone if it serves their ambitions. Or both.
Speaking of politicians who share those traits: “Kamala Harris is proposing a new kind of ‘red flag’ law to take guns away from racists,” Breitbart reported in 2019. “It’s part of her plan to ‘disarm violent hate’.”
“Disarm hate” is actually a viral meme now, being pushed by the grabbers with plenty of amplification from their media cheerleaders, as a quick detour over to a Google search will prove. And guess who gets to determine what constitutes “hate,” and who qualifies as a “prohibited person.”
As with the dilemma facing our brothers and sisters in arms in Canada, it will ultimately depend on how much abuse we are willing to put up with.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
