Why Everyone Should Care About Bill C21

You’ve never shot or owned a gun and have no interest in it, so why should Bill C21 matter to you?

The simple answer is property rights. 

Bill C21 has been represented, by the Liberal government in Canada, as a tactic in fighting the rise in gun violence we are seeing in this country.

They proposed legislation, Bill C21, that includes a handgun ban.  This would make it illegal to import, buy, sell or transfer handguns in Canada; even to those who were already licensed to do so. 

Without waiting for the bill to go through the proper parliamentary process, the government used regulations, instead of law, to impose a “freeze” on handguns. 

Not only have they disregarded the appropriate legislative procedures, the root problem is not being addressed, as the overwhelming majority of guns used in crimes are traced back to the United States.

To you however, this may seem irrelevant. 

From your perspective, shooting handguns is a frivolous and unnecessary hobby. You support banning them for the greater good. 

Now let’s change a few things up. Instead of gun violence, let’s use another one of Mr. Trudeau’s favourite talking points, climate change. 

Without even taking into account the impact on the businesses that sell them, imagine waking up one morning and finding out that you can no longer buy that new top of the line wake-board boat that you saved so diligently for. 

Or worse, you can’t sell the one you’ve got to help with the increasing cost of living. Were you thinking of passing it down to your son or daughter instead? You can’t do that anymore either, your property is now worthless. 

But you don’t care right? After all, wake-boarding is a frivolous and unnecessary hobby, right? 

This scenario is not that far-fetched. In the name of combating climate change the government has made a promise to end new gas cars as of 2035. They have also already applied a “luxury tax” to certain items; like wake-board boats. 

With this government’s approach to policy, why do you think they would stop at a tax? Why would they not ban those gas guzzling “luxury” polluters all together? 

Does it matter that Canada only represents about 2% of the global pollution? Effectiveness doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to firearms legislation, so why do you think climate change legislation will be any different?

I want to be clear, I don’t dismiss the rise in gun violence we are seeing in Canada, I want a safer Canada too. 

What I disagree with is the premise that placing further restrictions on law-abiding citizens, while completely devaluing their personal property is the answer to the violence. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Justin Trudeau made it clear that he doesn’t care about violating rights, if it’s for what he views as the greater good. 

It’s time to look at the bigger picture. Society has become so divided lately. People will automatically agree or disagree, simply to be in opposition to “the other side”. We need to remember that we are all Canadians and start standing up for each other; you never know who or what will be targeted next. 

Today it’s my personal property, but tomorrow it could be yours.