Letters to the Prime Minister
& other Federal Ministers

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Mr. Sam Magnus
Councilor from Saskatchewan
National Council of the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
#1204 - 130 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5G4

Dear Mr. Magnus,

Re: Bill S-5, “just another blank shot fired into hot political air”

My colleague in the Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association (CUFOA) and I enjoyed your remarks at the dinner with our new Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin in Saskatoon on Wednesday, 15 April 2009. We noted with interest that you meet regularly with Mr. Harper on the National Council of the Conservative Party of Canada.

The members of CUFOA would be most obliged if the next time you meet you would bring forward to Mr. Harper that we are singularly unimpressed with his specious dealings regarding the Firearms Act.(1) While the Conservatives were in Opposition, the rallying cry was “Repeal the Firearms Act!” Now in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Harper perversely talks simply of repealing the “long-gun registry”. We regard Mr. Harper’s Bill S-5, as does political columnist Don Martin, as “just another blank shot fired into hot political air.”(2)

For us, the necessity of repealing the Firearms Act is not simply politics. The licensing mandate of the Firearms Act aims to destroy our unique Canadian heritage and culture of responsible ownership of firearms. Licensing turns our Right to acquire, possess, and use firearms in a responsible manner into a mere privilege.

But the Firearms Act is more that just cultural genocide. As Professor Garry Mauser of Simon Fraser University says,
"Registration is bad, but licensing is worse. Licensing will kill us."(3)
Once the government denies our Right to own firearms, the government can regulate firearms - and firearms owners - into oblivion. Yet, while the government destroys our Right to own firearms, criminal activity increases.

We steadfastly maintain that responsible citizens have an innate, natural right to have ‘Armes for their Defense’.(4) As the crocuses once more begin to beautify our prairies, we urge you to impress upon Mr. Harper that our government must acknowledge that Right.

Sincerely,

Edward B. Hudson DVM, MS
Secretary

(1) Tories appear to regard attempt to kill long-gun registry as lost cause
- Joan Bryden and Bruce Cheadle, The Canada Press
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/216172--tories-appear-to-regard-attempt-to-kill-long-gun-registry-as-lost-cause

(2) Another blank fired at the firearms registry - Don Martin, The Calgary Herald
http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/donmartin/archive/2009/04/02/another-blank-fired-at-the-firearms-registry.aspx

(3) The Federal Firearm Licence Will Destroy Traditional Canada - Gary Mauser
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:IvmLQd3LCU4J:www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/licencing/Boiling-a-Frog29104.pdf+Licensing+will+kill+us+mauser&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

(4) The Canadian Right of ‘Armes for their Defense’ – Ed Hudson
http://www.cufoa.ca/articles/armes/armes_17_sept_2007.html

CC: Prime Minister Stephen Harper
The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety
Conservative Senators and Members of Parliament

Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association
Association canadienne des propriétaires d’armes sans permis
402 Skeena Crt. Saskatoon
Saskatchewan S7K 4H2
(306) 242-2379 (306) 230-8929
edwardhudson@shaw.ca
www.cufoa.ca