The May 11 editorial "Controlling the critics," from the Charlottetown Guardian published in The News, borrowed from the federal Liberals talking points of "balanced," "common sense" firearms legislation, in referring to the new firearms bill currently working its way through Parliament.
While giving a passing nod to hunters and the tools they use the Guardian could not resist taking a swipe at semi-automatic rifles – that hunters supposedly do not use – referring to them as having "no use except to do harm to other people." If a rabbit or a duck could talk they would in all probability agree with the Guardian rather than meet their demise, as so many of them do, with a handy semi-auto 22 or lightweight semi- auto shotgun.
In continued borrowing from the Liberals the editorial paints a picture of two extremes. The rabid gun owner, unopen to compromise and the equally unbalanced anti-gunner. In between – the Liberal saviours and the "majority" of the public – that in typical Canadian fashion are all about compromise.
Apparently the Guardian forgot not only to read the memo on hunter uses of semi-autos but the memo that the rabid anti-gunners – that the Liberals current firearms bill "saves" responsible gun owners from – want semi-autos banned. It is a curious, brave new world where the "majority" of citizens and media outlets like the Guardian are the voices of reason holding two extremes at bay by proposing to do what the Liberals presently quantify as extreme. Lumping oneself in with extremists to oppose extremists – how 2018! While there is nothing in the new Liberal legislation that makes reference to a blanket ban on semi-autos I am sure that they will not be offended by the Guardian attempting to out-Liberal the Liberals.
One would think after gun owners sounded the early warning, many years ago, well before the auditor general, that the Liberals’ previous firearms legislation would crash and burn taking billions of taxpayer dollars with it, that media like the Guardian would take heed occasionally.
Al Muir
Plymouth
