Guns for the New Year - Week 86 - Dec 17-24

Great timing Steve!  The Government announces that they won't adopt laws aimed at making gun shows safer.  The proposed requirements?  Gun show sponsors would have to notify police and provincial firearms officers that they are hosting a gun show, and they would have to "ensure the security and safety of the location and the firearms".  Boy, those sound like tremendous burdens.  The reason why these won't be adopted (other than "because a committee full of gun advocates decided it's unnecessary"?  "The vast majority of gun show hosts and exhibitors already follow the rules."  Shit.  That's totally logical!  I mean, we could do away with all sorts of laws now.  The "vast majority" of Canadians don't drink and drive.  Let's get rid of those laws too.  The "vast majority" of Canadians don't murder one another.  Don't really need those ones either.

I like this idea that boingboing is following...essentially trying to understand if gun control laws actually have some effect.  This first story speculates that they might...or might not.  It's hard to say as it's difficult to study the issue without passing actual laws.

But then this link points out that gun lobbyists have actively worked against the very studies that might shed some light on this issue.  So, I guess it is convenient to point out that there is no science to support gun control while you work to stifle any science that might support gun control.

On a similar note, Slate points out that gun control laws in Australia have been very effective at stopping mass shootings.  Different country, yes.  But enlightening.

And can you even believe these NRA shitheads?  Holy fuck.  Announce a major coming announcement as everybody anticipates you changing your insane stance on guns and then just double down on fucking crazy and announce that every school needs armed police officers!


These Vancouver Sun "Top 10 Photos" articles are usually the worst thing ever.  This one is kind of interesting.  The top 10 Countries in per capita gun ownership:
USA! USA! - #1 at 88.8 guns per 100 Citizens
Yemen - #2 with 54.8 guns per 100
Switzerland - Surprisingly #3 at 45.7
Finland - #4 at 45.3
Serbia - #5 at 37.8
Cyprus - #6 at 36.4
Saudi Arabia - #7 at 35.0
Iraq - #8 at 34.2
Uruguay - #9 at 31.8
Sweden - #10 at 31.6
Yes.  The USA has more guns per capita that recently war torn Iraq and Serbia.  Within smelling distance of 3 times as many guns.  Crazy.

Once again, Matt Taibbi gets the rage going.  This time combining two awesome themes:  Too Big to Fail and the War on Drugs.  This post highlights the settlement that HSBC made after being caught laundering Billions of dollars in cartel money.  No jail time, just a (relatively speaking) small fine.  He points out the discrepancy between being a white collar banking executive committing monstrous crimes vs. the average bloke caught with a joint in his pocket.  Pretty fucked up.

A troubling article about our dealings with China RE CNOOC, Chinese Mine Workers, Etc.

Those pesky opposition parties with all of their questions!  Don't they realize all of this "democracy" and "accountability" costs money?  We could save a fortune if we could just do what we want.

I think this guy misses the point a little bit.  First, is this a news piece?  Opinion?  Anyhow, he points out that all fighter jets are expensive.  And they all cost money to service and operate.  Which is true.  But he loses the point of the hullabaloo.  All of this was done without a rigorous evaluation of options.  And it was done with figures that didn't really represent the reality of the situation.  Yes, we may end up with the F-35 in the end.  But we need to make an informed decision and not just buy something because it's awesome.  And "stealth".

Surprisingly, most Canadians aren't willing to give up their rights in the name of "stopping terrorism".  Bloody communists!  Don't they know that government intrusion is okay when it's done for "security" reasons?