Fear the Government, Not the Virus

Vincent J. Curtis

2 May 20

RE: Trudeau "bans" 1,500 firearms in Canada

Fear the government, not the virus.  That is the lesson to be taken from recent events.

The government’s handling of the coronavirus has been a disaster – economically, socially, and medically.  By creating a climate of fear, the government justified a lockdown of the economy.  They quarantined healthy people, and rights guaranteed under the Charter disappeared as if they were never thought of.

The rule by expert turned out to be an illusion, as the so-called experts did not know how to cope with something they never experienced before.  Told to follow the science, the experts followed faux science - models absent actual data, and instead of evidence based reasoning we were treated to arrogance, incompetence, and sanctimony.  We went from not transmittable to highly contagious, from don’t wear masks to wear masks, from a deadly virus to one that is often so asymptomatic that we underestimated the infection rate by a factor of twenty.

All the while we were told that if we protested this grotesque violation of our civil rights, we would be responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of people.  Not what one would call a scientific statement, but it cowed most people.

Mr. Trudeau chose this moment to further strain belief in the rule of law by attacking the rights of the most law-abiding section of society, the owners of restricted firearms.  These people are the most law abiding of citizens because any violation of the law, even a complaint by a spouse or a neighbor, can lead to the seizure of their prized possessions.  A criminal background check is run on every gun owner every day by the miracle of computers.

When the Firearms Act was passed in 1995, it created a registry for restricted long guns.  Unlike handguns, long guns required no registration, and so there was a pool of newly restricted long guns that required registration.  The Liberal government of that day, led by Jean Chretien, promised that registration would not lead to confiscation.  Mr. Trudeau just turned his predecessor into a liar.  The government of today would not know exactly how many long guns of certain types are in this country – and who owns them – but for the registry.  It will be through the registry that the national police will be able go to someone’s house and demand that a long gun be turned over on pain of arrest.  And, given the circumstance, the threat of gun-play by the police.

There is no basis in law at present for the ban.  The Order-in-Council is an act of pure executive authority without a legislative basis, which is why it is a challenge to the rule of law.  It is possible for the executive to be lawless, too; and a lawless government is more dangerous to society than any lone gunman.  If the executive is lawless, why should anyone else follow the law, or obey the executive?

Speaking of lone gunmen, a gun ban and confiscation scheme would not have stopped the Nova Scotia killings.  The gunman had no firearms permits, no lawfully owned guns, and the police did not know he had any.  It will be the law-abiding gun owner who gets his prized possessions seized, for the crime of foolishly following the law.

Trudeau has done much harm to this country, but the greatest harm will be the loss of respect for the rule of law among the most law-abiding of citizens.  We have more to fear from government than we do from any virus.
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