[…] National Telegraph […]
Written By Wyatt Claypool, Posted on September 11, 2020
The rioting over the summer in the United States, spurred on by marxist organizations like Black Lives Matter (BLM) and ANTIFA proved to everyone this year quite succinctly why firearms ownership is not just a concern for those living in rural areas, or urban areas with already high crime rates.
The looting and burning of business has been shown to spread wherever it pleases, and civil disturbances from the cities can easily bleed into the suburbs, especially when the rioters are ideologically motivated against basic concepts key to our democracy like private property and capitalism.
We all do not have the luxury of simply moving homes when the mob comes to attack us like Portland mayor Ted Wheeler, so gun ownership in both Canada and the US should be taken more seriously as we have seen countless, and some ongoing, instances where the mob is essentially given the right to do as they please.
Rod Giltaca from the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, stated the following to The National Telegraph when asked about how he thinks the rioting from the US may start to affect the Canadian firearms debate.
“It’s difficult to say whether situations in the United States would lead to increased gun ownership in Canada. Canadian gun culture is very different than it is in the United States. But I think if we saw the level of unrest as they’re seeing in the US right now, I would imagine more Canadians may recognize that they have an obligation to protect themselves first and rely on government services second.”
Canada has been fortunate in not having taken the brunt of the rioting over the summer, but mass looting in Montreal following BLM protests proves this form of politically motivated rioting can come up north. Those toppling statues of Prime Minister Macdonald are also not far removed from the black bloc ANTIFA thugs.
Giltaca is correct in that Canadians likely will have to see more of the mass unchallenged violence and destruction in our own street before gun ownership is made a much more serious consideration for the average person.
Typically political movements that start in the US or Canada eventually make their way over the border, so it isn’t outside of the realm of possibilities for Canada to experience the same sort of far-left violence taking over city streets in the future.
We saw during the railway blockades at the beginning of the year that the government in Canada is often unwilling to let the cops crack down on illegal activity committed by left-wing activists, so can we really count on them to act if violent riots erupt?
People should think about what they would do if the mob was allowed to run roughshod over their communities and have no ability to get fast access to police assistance, possibly for days at a time. The logical reaction to this scenario would be to want to have the ability to protect oneself, and the only way to competently do that is through the ability to responsibly own a firearm.
Nobody wants the exasperation of violence and that is exactly what increased gun ownership would help to avoid. The mob is very unlikely to try and victimize those who can competently defend themselves, and ANTIFA everyday shows how increasingly important firearms are in the task of proving your ability for self-defence.
Wyatt is a student at Mount Royal University, where he is the president of its Campus Conservative club. In his writing, he focuses on covering provincial and federal politics, firearms regulation, and the energy sector. Wyatt has also previously written for The Post Millennial.
I totally agree 100%.