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75% of firearm deaths in Canada are due to suicide. The @CBCTheNational has regrettably followed the historic and seemingly never ending journalistic pre-occupation with crime and illegal handguns.
The narrative that legal gun owners are being punished for urban gang crime firstly reads well and at first glance makes even some sense.
But then, you might ask, how are legal gun owners actually being punished? What in Bill-C-71 suggests even a modicum of punishment? Absolutely nothing.
And if handguns were banned in Canada or required to be stored in a secure gun club or out of urban centers, does that actually even sound like a punishment? You can enjoy your hobby just not keep an arsenal in your basement.
And truly, what run of the mill deer and duck hunting rural Canadian actually needs a handgun?
For self-protection? From what? If Canadians need a gun for self-protection, then there is something seriously wrong with our country.
The only rural-urban divide here is all about electoral politics - the Conservatives playing to their base and Liberals afraid they're going to lose an election based on bold and decisive action.
Well, the Liberals may lose but not on this issue. A Saskatchewan duck hunter was never going to vote for them anyway. No, think pipelines, the Alberta economy, SNC Lavalin and Admiral Norman to name a few
If we really want to save lives in Canada - rural lives - my neighbours lives - then we need a better focus on the role of firearms in suicide.
Rural MPs - of all stripes - need a better understanding that firearms kill a lot of their constituents and devastate families for generations.
Yes, we need better access to mental health, especially in rural communities, and no, method substitution is not inevitable.
Health care providers, physicians and nurses, want a shift in the discussion because though we may not see a lot of gun crime in our communities we sure as hell see a lot of firearm suicides.
Limiting access to lethal methods of suicides will mean less deaths and less community devastation.
If you're a rural politician, I'd like to talk to you, anytime.
