From their old not-quite-dead hands

by Kathy Shaidle | December 8, 2007 12:02 pm

Canadian authorities have decided they need to go into the homes of senior citizens with guns.[1] (They know who owns guns because the government spent $2-billion — yes, with a “b” — of our tax dollars to set up a registry of legally owned firearms, in a nation with only a small number of legal gun owners.)

Why? Because they’ve heard tell of old folks storing their guns improperly. (Our gun storage laws are pretty involved — I know, I recently passed the written exam required to get a license).

All this is being done without a warrant.

But don’t worry: you’ll get a nice little receipt for your gun if the authorities decide to confiscate it.[2]

Now please remember: in Canada, private property is not protected under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Like you, we have amendments prohibiting unwarranted searches and seizures, but unlike you, gun owners are considered “bad guys” and the public generally will shrug at their rights being violated.

In Toronto, the cops need a warrant to search the homes of gang members for weapons. Also in my province, armed Indian activists took over a housing construction site they claimed was on disputed Indian territory, occupied the new homes for weeks, wrecked them — and the cops did nothing.

Keeping this atmosphere in mind, your words of advice and encouragement are most welcome.

(Kathy blogs at the aptly-named FiveFeetOfFury,[3] even though she’s really 4’11”)