Leave the firearms registry alone
In a courthouse down the road, the trial of a cop killer is going on. Emrah Bulatci shot Christopher Worden four times in October of 2007. Bulatci was a cocaine dealer. Worden was an RCMP officer.
“I panicked” was the headline splashed across the top of the Yellowknife paper in 60-point font, Bulatci’s explanation for why he shot Worden.
He didn’t intend to kill the police officer when he shot him twice in the lower body Bulatci told a packed courtroom Nov. 12.
Though severely wounded, Const. Worden tackled his shooter and wrestled him to the ground. They struggled for the semi-automatic handgun, but the crack dealer-turned-gunman got the upper hand on the badly bleeding officer shooting him twice more, this time killing him.
Bulatci insisted he never planned to shoot the officer.
“I don’t know how it happened … I didn’t know where (the shots) hit …my finger was on it but I didn’t intentionally mean it.”
I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t mean it. Yada yada.
Bulatci’s a life-long criminal. He sold crack cocaine to anyone who had the money to buy it. He carried a loaded .40 calibre handgun “but didn’t intend to use it.” That is, until he was arrested at a drug deal one night and blew away a cop, just doing his job.
What’s the point of all this?
None, except having a way to track guns in this country isn’t a bad thing.
I know, I know, it doesn’t make a bit of difference to prevent violent crimes. Criminals don’t register guns, or so gun owners like to say.
Sure, Bulatci had a list of firearms restrictions as long as your arm, but he still had a gun handy when he shot a cop to death.
But not every gun crime is committed by a criminal. Sometimes, someone drinks a little too much, or takes words the wrong way and they feel like killing someone and they happen to have a gun in the house. It happens all the time.
Why not have those guns registered, just to protect the innocent people who might get in the lad’s way?
We’ve already got the registry. We’ve already spent a billion or so bucks on the thing and the guns are registered so what’s the big deal?
In a society half-crazed by over-imagined dangers, why are we turning a blind eye to real dangers like guns?
I like knowing the firearm registry, besides keeping 240 Miramichiers and their families in winter coats and groceries, also protects the innocent from gun-wielding people who fly off the handle.
Police are called to domestic disturbances across this country thousands of times a day.
I like knowing a police officer can check a computer to see if the owner of the home they just got a domestic disturbance call from owns a gun or two or three. If I was a cop I’d want to know if there were guns in a house I was walking into for the first time during a hostile situation.
If you’re a law-abiding citizen, registering your guns does you no harm. If you’ve got a short fuse and a hot temper, registering your guns could save lives.
Debbie Kelly from Halifax wrote a letter to the editor that ran in Friday’s paper.
I agree with her point of view and here’s a bit again in case you missed it the first time.
“We have to register our dogs, our elevators, our restaurants, our vehicles, even our trailers,” Kelly said.
“Why in heaven's name do we not have to register our guns? Of course we should. A long gun can easily be sawed-off and become a weapon for crimes. The use of the registry's information is invaluable to all police and police agencies. It is valuable to know if a domestic violence incident might incur a gun at the residence and so much more.
“But regardless of all the arguments for and against, it just makes sense. Period. Why would you or those around you think anyone should be able to own a long gun or any gun without a registry? Canadians should know who has these killing weapons. Too many people have died at the hand of a gun,” Kelly wrote.
“Right or wrong, all guns must be registered and the appropriate fee attached. You must do the right thing and not let this pass. Lives are at stake and it rests on parliament to protect its citizens and not support special interest. Long guns need to be a registered requirement and the fees should be at the person registering the gun. Taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill. Shame on those who supported passing this bill,” she wrote.
Amen.
“I panicked” was the headline splashed across the top of the Yellowknife paper in 60-point font, Bulatci’s explanation for why he shot Worden.
He didn’t intend to kill the police officer when he shot him twice in the lower body Bulatci told a packed courtroom Nov. 12.
Though severely wounded, Const. Worden tackled his shooter and wrestled him to the ground. They struggled for the semi-automatic handgun, but the crack dealer-turned-gunman got the upper hand on the badly bleeding officer shooting him twice more, this time killing him.
Bulatci insisted he never planned to shoot the officer.
“I don’t know how it happened … I didn’t know where (the shots) hit …my finger was on it but I didn’t intentionally mean it.”
I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t mean it. Yada yada.
Bulatci’s a life-long criminal. He sold crack cocaine to anyone who had the money to buy it. He carried a loaded .40 calibre handgun “but didn’t intend to use it.” That is, until he was arrested at a drug deal one night and blew away a cop, just doing his job.
What’s the point of all this?
None, except having a way to track guns in this country isn’t a bad thing.
I know, I know, it doesn’t make a bit of difference to prevent violent crimes. Criminals don’t register guns, or so gun owners like to say.
Sure, Bulatci had a list of firearms restrictions as long as your arm, but he still had a gun handy when he shot a cop to death.
But not every gun crime is committed by a criminal. Sometimes, someone drinks a little too much, or takes words the wrong way and they feel like killing someone and they happen to have a gun in the house. It happens all the time.
Why not have those guns registered, just to protect the innocent people who might get in the lad’s way?
We’ve already got the registry. We’ve already spent a billion or so bucks on the thing and the guns are registered so what’s the big deal?
In a society half-crazed by over-imagined dangers, why are we turning a blind eye to real dangers like guns?
I like knowing the firearm registry, besides keeping 240 Miramichiers and their families in winter coats and groceries, also protects the innocent from gun-wielding people who fly off the handle.
Police are called to domestic disturbances across this country thousands of times a day.
I like knowing a police officer can check a computer to see if the owner of the home they just got a domestic disturbance call from owns a gun or two or three. If I was a cop I’d want to know if there were guns in a house I was walking into for the first time during a hostile situation.
If you’re a law-abiding citizen, registering your guns does you no harm. If you’ve got a short fuse and a hot temper, registering your guns could save lives.
Debbie Kelly from Halifax wrote a letter to the editor that ran in Friday’s paper.
I agree with her point of view and here’s a bit again in case you missed it the first time.
“We have to register our dogs, our elevators, our restaurants, our vehicles, even our trailers,” Kelly said.
“Why in heaven's name do we not have to register our guns? Of course we should. A long gun can easily be sawed-off and become a weapon for crimes. The use of the registry's information is invaluable to all police and police agencies. It is valuable to know if a domestic violence incident might incur a gun at the residence and so much more.
“But regardless of all the arguments for and against, it just makes sense. Period. Why would you or those around you think anyone should be able to own a long gun or any gun without a registry? Canadians should know who has these killing weapons. Too many people have died at the hand of a gun,” Kelly wrote.
“Right or wrong, all guns must be registered and the appropriate fee attached. You must do the right thing and not let this pass. Lives are at stake and it rests on parliament to protect its citizens and not support special interest. Long guns need to be a registered requirement and the fees should be at the person registering the gun. Taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill. Shame on those who supported passing this bill,” she wrote.
Amen.
posted by Street Wise Guy | 9:40 PM
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