The debate on Bill C-21, quite involuntarily revived by goaltender Carey Price, highlights two interesting phenomena: the lack of seriousness and the inconsistency of the preparation of amendments to the Criminal Code, nothing less ; and the often biased, incomplete and often lax press coverage of several media outlets.
The federal government and Prime Minister Trudeau himself have vehemently asserted that their bill does not target hunting activity, let alone, albeit indirectly, hunter-voters.
However, very few media first checked the facts by carefully reading Bill C-21, in which there are indeed dozens of conventional hunting weapons, including some of the safest and least interesting for anyone. wants to use them for illegitimate purposes.
Extremely relevant
But it must be recognized from the outset that C-21 is extremely relevant, because more than 98% of the weapons it prohibits are military, paramilitary, police force or armed intervention group versions. In short, weapons made to kill humans, which have no place in hunting, or even on shooting ranges, where we should, in principle, find precision shooting enthusiasts, and not, like these weapons do, machine gun shooters.
But a simple hunter will find it difficult to admit that dozens of waterfowl hunting weapons such as the Benelli Beccaccia Supreme, Bimilionnaire, Centro, Colombo or Legacy Limited Edition models may have found their way onto such a list of prohibited weapons, yet developed by experts… And these are just a few examples.
Moreover, one wonders whether one of the authors of these proposed amendments to the Criminal Code had any reason to attack the arms manufacturer Benelli, the company whose hunting weapons are the most systematically targeted by C- 21. Indeed, several equivalent weapons of Benelli’s competitors, such as Beretta or Franqui, to take only two examples from the same country, are not targeted even though they have the same characteristics. Interesting question for parliamentarians to elucidate.
In the list
In addition, this list includes venerable classic bolt-action hunting rifles, as currently used by thousands of Canadians. A good example: the Weatherby Classic Mark 1 or the Montana Rifle 1999 DGR. There are also two-barrel models, such as the Parker Brothers CHE, the magnificent Purdey Double Barrel Rifle and the Famars Africa Express.
Such two-barreled weapons, shotguns or carbines like the Zanardini Bristol 409 Express, are both the slowest in rate for a mad shooter, because they only hold two cartridges, but they are among the most effective for hunting the biggest game, including the most dangerous predators.
On the other hand, they are the most reliable weapons in a critical hunting situation because of their safe handling and their power. What are they doing in this list that is not supposed to target hunting activity?
Finally, it is interesting to note that in this debate, many journalists and shows, even major news bulletins, have contented themselves with highlighting the statements of anti-gun groups and the Prime Minister who claims not to want attacking hunting when his bill effectively attempts to ban conventional hunting weapons.
But while it is said that there is a powerful pro-weapons lobby on the other side, we rarely see eloquent spokespersons, apart from a few gunsmiths or salesmen whose profession, obviously, is not not to defend such an issue in the public square…
Opposition to C-21 has also often been reduced in this area to the positions taken by the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, in whom many opponents of C-21 in its current form do not recognize themselves, even if several journalists tend to present him as the spokesperson for the opponents.
Vehement or honeyed
I’ve also seen shows where the hosts and hostesses vehemently lashed out at those who take the hunter’s point of view as they suddenly get smug in front of anti-gun spokespersons. From a professional point of view…
And above all, no verification of the facts, such as confronting the government discourse by evaluating the presence and the importance of the number of hunting weapons actually targeted by C-21 in a process of amendment to a law as important as the Criminal Code , a visibly botched exercise in some respects.