A Perfectly Cromulent Politics Blog
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
Posted by Devin Johnston on November 4th, 2009
I don't have a strong position one way or the other on scrapping the long gun registry. I think there are some valid criticisms of the program, particularly in respect of the cost to the public. That said, I strongly disagree with those who argue that long guns don't contribute to criminal violence.
It is empirically true that more crimes are committed with handguns than with long guns, especially in urban centres. That said, they are also used in different kinds of crimes. Hand guns are more often used in "street crime" situations - armed robberies and the like. Long guns, when used in a criminal manner, are more often the instrument of homicide, particularly where a man kills his female partner. Mandating registration of long guns helps the authorities (a) prevent homicides from taking place where additional risk factors are known to them, and (b) identify and convict the perpetrators of homicides.
Male violence against women is undoubtedly the most pervasive form of criminal violence in Canada today. Dennis Gruending made the following observation about the timing of the House of Commons vote to scrap the long gun registry:
It is ironic, to say the least, that this vote occurred just a few weeks prior to the 20th anniversary of the December 6th Montreal massacre, when Marc Lepine mowed down 14 young women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal with a semi-automatic weapon. Although this bill will not touch the ban on handguns, it will, if it becomes law, eliminate the requirement to register the type of people-hunting firearm that Lepine used in 1989. It was that gruesome killing which prompted the then-Liberal government of Jean Chretien to pass the Firearms Act in 1995, requiring gun owners to obtain permits and to register their guns.
Like I said, I do not have a strong view one way or the other on this issue, and I can understand the pressures that a number of rural MP face on this issue. However, I think that there are legitimate concerns about the effect that today's vote will have in terms of male violence against women which have been glibly discounted by those who support scrapping the registry.
In any event, please take some time to visit the website for White Ribbon Campaign. Violence against women is a men's issue and it is every man's responsibility to speak and act out against it.
Spread the word and fan the winds of change:
This page is at least a month old. Feel free to read it, but you might also want to check out something a little fresher:
I don't know; this doesn't
Posted by ADHR (not verified) on November 4th, 2009.
I don't know; this doesn't seem like a particularly good argument. First, the logic is a little sloppy. Second, the invocation of violence against women seems to bring in an emotional dimension that confuses the issue.
Re: the first. There are lots of factors involved in cases of violence, and lots in cases of violence against women specifically. Picking on long guns seems a bit arbitrary, unless there's some sort of causal connection there. (Which would be rather strange; after all, many people own long guns and don't hurt others.) Here's another common factor: most acts of violence against women are committed by men. So, by the same logic as in this argument, we should register all men in order to "(a) prevent homicides from taking place where additional risk factors are known to them, and (b) identify and convict the perpetrators of homicides." Of course it's a silly conclusion, but if the logic is the same, then the similarity serves as a reductio.
Re: the second. Violence in itself is (often, not always) a bad thing. Picking specifically on violence against women (or violence against children) seems, to my eye, to try to bring in underlying emotional reactions -- particularly (classically male) protective ones. To see this, note that the very same argument as what you make here doesn't have nearly the same punch if we say simply "a significant proportion of cases of violence" (or something that's closer to being extensionally equivalent). Given that, it's sort of a cheap tactic -- rather than raising some sort of rational basis for preserving the registry, the argument here encourages us to do it because we feel like we should.
Speaking to the issue of the registry as such, as far as I can tell, the extreme emotional reactions people are having to it, one way or the other, are unwarranted. Everyone wants to reduce (unjustified) violence and, at the time the registry was created, it seemed like this might work. Evidence is starting to suggest this has been a failed method. It makes sense to try to remove the failed method and replace it with one that works better -- hopefully, our NDP MPs will be on that latter point in committee. But, really, why get so invested in one method or another if what really matters is the goal?
what party are you in favour of?
Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 19th, 2009.
Hi I would like to know what party you are in favour for because i would like to use your article for an assignment in my class.
Thanks
Anon, I am a New Democrat.
Posted by Devin Johnston on November 19th, 2009.
Anon,
I am a New Democrat.
the long gun registry is a
Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 7th, 2009.
the long gun registry is a pointless practice. from 2003-2007 there were 2441 homocides in canada under two percent or 47 were commited using a registered long gun. and for the record each person who wants to posses a gun for hunting, and or target shooting/recreational puposes must have a FAC which is given to you by the rcmp who screen you to make sure you are not a threat. so does it make a difference weather or not they know if you have a gun. will it prevent any homicides, no it doesnt stop you from owning it.
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