“If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin
Etobicoke, ON -(AmmoLand.com)- What do hunters, precision target shooters, action gamers, trap and skeet aficionados, black rifle owners, collectors and handgun shooters all have in common?
The answer to that question isn’t what you might think. It’s not even what you might want to think.
What each of these groups of gun owners has in common is that they all allow politicians and the media to pit us against one another in their very successful game of “divide and conquer”.
The common mantra from politicians and reporters alike who are too lazy to think for themselves is that “nobody needs that kind of gun” in Canadian society. They inevitably trot out someone identified as “an avid hunter” who “agrees” that “handguns have no place” in Canada, or “black guns are used only for killing people.” If politicians or reporters feel particularly generous that day, the argument might be posed that “maybe target shooting with a .22 handgun” is okay, but nobody needs one of those evil AR-15s.
Our downfall as gun owners is not only do we allow this garbage to continue, it’s that many members in our community actually condone it – both privately and publicly. Insults and epithets are hurled freely, further fracturing our community.
REALITY CHECK: Some politicians and their media cronies have one simple goal when it comes to civilian gun ownership. They want it to end immediately. They do not want ordinary people to own guns, and they are willing to do anything to achieve that goal.
“Nobody needs to own an AR-15,” they say. “Nobody needs to own a handgun,” they cry. “Self-defense is no reason for owning a firearm,” say government ministers. Then there are the lame Hollywood hypocrites – with their armed security guards, it should be added – telling us that we don’t need guns. Ordinary people are not “special enough” appears to be the message, right?
Oleg Volk, the famed “gun photographer” and pro-gun activist, created a fantastic image over 10 years ago that captured this perfectly. He framed the iron sights of a Lee-Enfield with a hand holding the stock, finger on the trigger. The text says, “No one would ban your hunting rifle. They would call it a sniper gun, first.”
The fact that the anti-gun crowd despises our community and our way of life is only one facet of the problem. Their lies and misrepresentations are relatively easy to challenge when armed with solid facts.
It’s when we insist on fighting amongst ourselves that we do the job of our enemy for them. We’re so busy shooting each other in the foot that we cannot see what’s being done while we’re not paying attention to our real enemies.
It simply hurts all gun owners when members of our own community are willing to toss each other under the bus – even if many are too short-sighted to see it.
The latest attack by the RCMP on .22 caliber plinkers with magazines that hold more than 10 rounds is a perfect example. Online there are numerous people claiming to be gun owners who say that this is no big deal. Who needs a magazine larger than 10 shots anyway.
Those people miss the point, twice.
First, the RCMP has no place fabricating laws out of thin air as they’ve done with the Ruger 10/22 magazine issue.
Second, it is absolutely the wrong message to send when some in our community side with those who would restrict our rights – simply because we don’t own one of the items currently on the chopping block.
When you don’t own a specific piece of kit and you hear some government agency wants it banned, the long-term survival of our avocation depends on us defending those affected gun owners with everything you have.
While it may be one battle in a long cultural war between the gun grabbers and your guns, every attack on other gun owners means your turn is one step closer.
Canadian firearm owners of all stripes must stick together. We must defend ourselves and our gun-owning brethren always, at all times. We must educate those members of our community who are so foolishly quick to throw others under the bus and at the same time, vigourously defend them from attack. One day, that same government agency may come for their gear and we’ll need every gun owner to clamour to their aid.
Somberly, and with the utmost respect, we repeat the chilling words of Holocaust survivor, Pastor Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
About CSSA:
The CSSA is the voice of the sport shooter and firearms enthusiast in Canada. Our national membership supports and promotes Canada’s firearms heritage, traditional target shooting competition, modern action shooting sports, hunting, and archery. We support and sponsor competitions and youth programs that promote these Canadian heritage activities.
For more information, visit the website at www.cdnshootingsports.org.