PUBLICATION:        The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)

DATE:                         2003.07.17

EDITION:                    Final

SECTION:                  Forum

PAGE:                         A14

SOURCE:                   The StarPhoenix

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let criminals feel law's sting

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A shot fired from a moving car by someone wielding a pellet gun hits a five-year-old in Toronto in the eye, nearly costing him his vision.

Four idiots terrorize a southeast Vancouver neighbourhood over two days as they drive around firing a paintball rifle at vehicles, pedestrians and stores, leaving 39 frightened victims with stinging welts to mark the despicable spree of violence.

Even though laws exist already to deal with such irresponsible and foolish actions that hurt others, these incidents have raised an inevitable cry to restrict guns further -- this time by extending the draconian provisions of the gun registration system to include air guns, pellet guns and even starter pistols and other "realistic-looking" toy guns.

There's no telling what these zealots would have demanded had the Toronto kid been struck in the eye with a stone hurled from a passing car, but surely it's time to inject some perspective on to what lengths society needs to go to protect itself from idiots.

As Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino rightly observed, "Laws are in place to deal with these issues; It's not the weapon per se, it's the use that's made of the weapon. You can say the same thing of a baseball bat or a garden rake."

Rather than demand that buyers of low-velocity guns -- only those which fire projectiles faster than 152 metres a second currently qualify as firearms officially -- subject themselves to the undemocratic screening process and 28-day wait period and be placed on the expensive joke of a national gun registry, it's more productive that public safety activists demand tough treatment of those who abuse guns to commit crimes.

Emile Therien of the Canada Safety Council argues that air guns are at least as dangerous as lawn darts, which his group successfully got banned from Canada some years ago. Rather than make the case for banning pellet guns, his argument only reminds us once again of the utter absurdity of the ban on lawn darts.

Yes, innocent children and adults can get hurt if air guns, paintball rifles or pellet guns (like rocks, knives, baseball bats or many other things) are misused or deliberately abused by irresponsible people. The solution isn't to put these tools under lock and key and register their legitimate users. That fate should belong to the criminals who endanger public safety.