The attack on firearms is a distraction from real risks - like opiods
Opiods kill more Canadians than guns but get no Liberal government attention
Gun crime is present and tragic but it is a rounding error compared to the carnage caused by fentanyl and other opiods. Statistics Canada data show the rate of death from gun violence and suicides with guns in Canada is 4 to 6 people per million populaton.
That number is rising and in 2021 amounted to 297 homicides using guns.
As alarming as that may sound, it compares to 2,861 deaths in 2016 from opiods, a number which rose to over 6,000 deaths by 2020 based on government of Canada data. Twenty times as many Canadians die from opiods as from gun violence but the Trudeau government points its legislative power at gun owners, ignoring the reality that most gun-related homicides involve unlicensed and illegally-acquired firearms and are not related to lawful gun ownership.
Opiod deaths are only a fraction of the deaths arising from abuse of narcotics. Canadian government data show over 34,000 opiod toxicity deaths in the first 9 months of 2022, and a ton of deaths result from cocaine abuse as well.
Addiction data show cocaine abuse is a major problem, arguably worse than opiods.
Gun legislation is politically popular and efforts to curb opiod abuse less popular. Why? Perhaps it is the result of the popularity of narcotics among Liberals in Parliament? I don’t know, but common sense suggests efforts to curb the inflow of fentanyl into Canada and the related abuse of heroin, cocaine and other narcotics would reduce mortality and morbidity among Canadians by an order of magnitude more than taking hunting rifles away from hunters or target pistols away from sport shooters like me.
An estimated 4% of Canadians are addicted to narcotics like cocaine, heroin and opiods in general. There are 338 members of Parliament and 100 Senators, and 751 members of Provincial and territorial legislatures. If these elites follow the averages, about 45 of them are drug addicts. What better way to avoid being “outed” as a drug addict than to promote gun legislation which will garner votes and do virtually nothing to reduce homicides in Canada.
The Trudeau Liberals are more about form than substance, pick at flyspecks rather than addressing real issues, and pretend they can alter nature to keep Canadians afraid and retain power. They need to go.
The need to get guns out of the hands of Canadians is about control. Nothing more.
US has so many firearms that you’re never going be able to get them all off the street. I think upping the age that you can get an assault combat rifle is key. Most of the people that have them are responsible owners-many are ex military.