There was little surprise Friday morning when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government would be banning and confiscating hundreds of thousands of firearms that he and his ministers think are scary. But the incredibly wide net cast in the mass confiscation, that this was done by cabinet decree, and the racial exemption for First Nations took many by surprise..It has been expected for some time that the Trudeau government would attempt to ban several long-guns that they have repeatedly misclassified as “assault-rifles”, “assault-style”, and “military-style”. Trudeau Jr. is seemingly unaware that the civilian possession of assault rifles has been illegal since Trudeau Sr. banned them in the early 1970s..Knowledge of the law his own father passed aside, Trudeau has also been unable to define – even after announcing the ban – what exactly a “military-style” or “assault-style” rifle is. In short, they are rifles that look scarier than your granddaddy’s wood-stock deer rifle. In the overwhelming majority of these cases, the firearms being banned have the same functionality as most of the non-banned firearms, but have cosmetic differences that simply make them appear more militaristic..There is little difference in the functionality of my own 270 Remington hunting rifle (which is not banned, I think), and a Ruger Mini-14, which is now banned. The only difference is that my 270 Remington doesn’t come with as many modification-kits to make it look scarier to Liberal eyes..Equivalently, if “racing-style cars” were illegal, the Liberals would now ban vehicles with Honda Civic engines inside of Formula-1 bodies..In all, Ottawa has now banned 1,500 different firearms and made criminals out of approximately 500,000 Canadians who until they woke up this morning, were law-abiding citizens. With the stroke of a pen, every one of these citizens who has passed an extensive training course and background check, will be a criminal if they do not hand over their recently-lawful property..This all happened behind closed doors. No legislation to be debated in Parliament. No bill for the public to see before coming into law. Just a decree ordered by the cabinet at the direction of the prime minister..As of this morning, it is illegal for these gun owners to use or even transport their property except to send them back to the manufacturer, or to surrender them to the police..Details are to come at some point as to how the “buy-back” program will work. Gun owners might rightfully ask how a government can “buy-back” something that was never its property to begin with. They may reasonably ask to see the bill of sale with their own signature on the paper before “selling back” to the government..Gun owners who refuse to actively surrender their property will have armed police showing up at their doors. Gun owners may reasonably ask the armed squad at their home if the Charter of Rights and Freedoms authorized warrants for police to raid homes to steal lawfully acquired property..Many gun owners may reasonably conclude that a government that arbitrarily decrees laws to steal their lawfully acquired property is the embodiment of tyranny, and decide to bury or hide their guns from the armed squads coming to take them..When all is said and done, the Liberals may have succeeded only in driving a large portion of Canada’s lawful firearms community underground..And underground firearms – including those intended for ill purpose – will thrive..Trudeau’s announcement emphasized that only bad people would want to own these firearms..“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.”.There you have it. These rifles aren’t for hunting. They are for mass shootings. Unless you belong to a First Nation..In that case, the right to hunt with these rifles – that Trudeau says nobody uses for hunting – will be protected..It’s no secret that the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve in Ontario is the smuggling capital of Canada. I bear them no ill-will for taking advantage of Canada’s overweening tobacco taxes to smuggle huge quantities of contraband cigarettes through their territory from the United States..But through this reserve is also smuggled large quantities of drugs and illegal firearms. Smuggled, illegal firearms like those used by the mass-murderer in Nova Scotia a week ago..By banning everyone in Canada except for First Nations to possess these guns, Ottawa will be handing over an effective monopoly to those smugglers hiding in these communities to run guns, creating more crime and danger in an already economically disadvantaged community..This raises another serious issue. By banning 1,500 different makes and classes of firearms from all Canadians except for First Nations, Canada will become the only country on Earth to issue different firearms licenses on an explicitly racial basis. It is a stain on Canada’s national honour..Luckily, there are ways beyond civil disobedience to resist Ottawa’s gun grab..While Ottawa may criminalize a large number of gun owners, the enforcement of criminal law falls to the provinces. British Columbia refused to arrest and prosecute people for small possessions of cannabis for nearly a decade before it was legalized at the federal level..Similarly, the provinces have the right to appoint their own Chief Firearms Officers, and instruct prosecutors not to lay charges against anyone refusing to comply with the confiscation..In short, if this law is enforced in any province, the premier of that province is just as guilty as the prime minister himself..A positive sign on this front was Alberta Premier Jason Kenney who said, “In response to today’s announcement from Ottawa, our government is actively consider appointing Alberta’s own chief firearms officer (CFO) to replace the CFO appointed by Ottawa.”.It’s something that Alberta has been actively considering since it was added to the mandate of the Fair Deal Panel for study last fall..This will be even more important going forward, as Trudeau promised that more moves to confiscate and ban guns would be coming from Ottawa soon..The Liberals know well that this ban and confiscation won’t save a single life. The Nova Scotia shooter had no firearms license, and therefore no legally acquired firearms. The ban decreed from Ottawa would not have stopped a single one of the firearms that he obtained from falling into his hands..But this isn’t about safety. Liberals just seem to have an instinctive discomfort with firearms. Most Liberals do no own, operate, or know very much about firearms. They more often than not, view firearms owners as gun-totting hicks planning to shoot an innocent kid for wandering onto their lawn..Because most Liberals do not own firearms, most Liberals know very little about them. They can be easily mislead about what the various terms even mean..In short, this move is designed to please Liberal voters and win over other leftists who voted NDP, Bloc or Green last time around, while forcing the Conservatives to defend the unpopular position of supporting “assault weapons”, and “military-style rifles”..It’s just good politics. But also pure theft..Derek Fildebrandt is Publisher & CEO of the Western Standard.dfildebrandt@westernstandardonline.com.,.Twitter: @dfildebrandt
