Come and Take Them

When Xerces I invaded Greece in 480BC, and demanded that the Spartans surrender their weapons, King Leonidas I responded with "MOLON LABE", thus beginning The Battle of Thermopylae...

According to John Paul Tasker of Canada’s CBC News Public safety minister has drafted a list of firearms to be banned — including weapons used in mass shootings.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced a ban on some 1,500 makes and models of military-grade "assault-style" weapons in Canada, effective immediately.

Starting today, licensed gun owners will no longer be allowed to sell, transport, import or use these sorts of weapons in this country.”

"As of today, the market for assault weapons in Canada is closed," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said. "Enough is enough. Banning these firearms will save Canadian lives."

It goes on to say: “The Liberal Party promised some sort of buyback program in the last election, something that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”
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A full list of the firearms that have been banned is available through the Canada Gazette.

"These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time," Trudeau said. "There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada."

While he acknowledged that most firearms owners are law-abiding citizens, he said hunters don't need this sort of firepower.

"You don't need an AR-15 to bring down a deer," he said.

The term "assault-style" has no legal definition in Canada. The Firearms Act also does not currently classify firearms as "military-style" — that term would have to be defined in the new regulations.

Generally speaking, an assault-style weapon is a semi-automatic firearm with an ammunition magazine, built to fire quickly. There is already a legal limit — five rounds — on the maximum size of a magazine.

All Canadians must be in compliance with the law by April 2022, Justice Minister David Lametti said, adding that gun owners who have not disposed of their banned firearms by that point could face sanctions under the Criminal Code.

While there is an amnesty period, the firearms cannot be used anywhere as of today. Lametti said firearms owners may return the firearms to the manufacturer or export them as part of a sale between now and 2022.

The government official said that, at the end of the two-year amnesty, gun owners must dispose of the firearm or they may be able to apply for the firearm to be "grandfathered." Details on the grandfather process would be released at a later date, the official said.​

Today's ban does not cover handguns, the weapon of choice for gang members. Blair promised Friday to enact legislation down the line to give municipalities the power to ban these firearms.

The firearms ban comes in response to the Nova Scotia gun shootings in mid-April, an incident Trudeau called "the deadliest rampage in our country's history."

The RCMP has confirmed that the Nova Scotia shooter used firearms obtained illegally in Canada and from U.S. sources to carry out his crimes. He was not licensed to own firearms.

Eyewitnesses have said he used several weapons during his attacks, including some sort of a long-barrelled rifle and a handgun. The RCMP has described at least one of his firearms as an "assault-style" weapon.
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Critics maintain that these sorts of bans target licensed gun owners rather than criminals, who often turn to the black market to procure firearms to commit crimes.

Rod Giltaca, CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, said the firearms community is "devastated" by Friday's development.

"The only people that will lose their guns in this action are licensed gun owners. No criminals will register or turn in a single rifle" he said in a statement. "This move is viewed as entirely political."

ALLISON ARMS INPUT:

The gun control freaks are salivating at the mouth now! What in the world does Canada hope to accomplish with this? If the leadership there (like some of the leadership here in America) does not understand that, all this accomplishes is, de-arming law-abiding citizens, then, they are unfit to lead. All they are doing is catering to the uneducated to continue to get their votes so that they can stay in power. It even says in the article that the gunman got the weapons ILLEGALLY! What criminal cares about the law?!

And what, exactly, is an “assault-style weapon”? There is no real definition! "These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time”. NO, you dummy…ALL guns were designed to kill…as efficiently as possible. Whether for sport or self-defense, the goal is to kill as quickly and efficiently as possible. Sure, we can go have fun plinking around, but the point of that is training (it’s just fun to train, haha). An “assault-style weapon” is no different than the semi-auto Remington shotgun (from the 1930’s) that I learned to shoot with. Step 1: Load bullets. Step 2: Pull the trigger. There is no step 3 because it’s still the same result…one bullet comes out. They only come out as fast as you can bend your trigger finger….no matter what semi-auto weapon you have!

“Today's ban does not cover handguns, the weapon of choice for gang members”. That’s just laughable! I am looking at my .357 Sig Glock 33 right now. It is also a semi-auto and will go BOOM every time I pull the trigger! I keep one in the chamber, fully loaded, hollow-point bullets, and an extra magazine right here in it in the office…because you can NEVER be too protected!

In closing, this is absolutely ridiculous! More killings come from kitchen knives and the use of human hands than "assault-style rifles." When do those get banned?

What are your thoughts on the subject? Comment below and let’s chat!

I say…MOLON LABE!

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Ben Posey
Allison Arms - President 
HM1(SW), MBA, LSSBB,
​Arms Dealer, US Navy (ret.)