[32-40win]

From a Liberal MP back east, along with a bunch of coalition of anti-gun posters on her FB page, CCFR will be on CBC a few times today apparently;

Lenore ZannFollow
13 hrs
TRURO,NS: In response to Friday’s announcement that the Govt of Canada is banning Military-style Assault Weapons designed to kill as many people in as short a time as possible (and the weapons of choice for all six mass-murderers over the past 30 years in Canada including the latest NS tragedy) I’ve received many appreciative messages from constituents - including local hunters. A number of you have said it made the announcement made you “Proud to be CANADIAN”. Thank you. Me too.

And as the PM and Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair both said on Friday, more protections are coming in the form of Red Flag Laws and other measures to prevent the smuggling of weapons.

However at the same time gun-advocates have been posting angry social media posts regurgitating Conservative Party talking points including false claims such as, “This was not done democratically”. Actually YES it WAS.

PM Trudeau and his Team (including me) ran on this issue as part of the Liberal platform in the federal election - just six months ago. This is a fulfillment of that promise to the electorate because 80% OF CANADIANS SUPPORT IT and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair called me personally Friday morning to tell me himself - explaining that it was to be done via Regulation.

it went into effect immediately on Friday and gun owners have a grace period of two years to exchange them for money from Gov’t in return. This is what is called a “Buy Back” program.

Some people seem to be advocating to allow citizens to protect themselves with automatic weapons in order to “fight back” against future shooter incidents. This is a dangerous argument - like the one suggested in the US to "arm the teachers" in order to prevent school shootings. Evidence shows THIS DOESN'T WORK. (And I remember a teacher in the US shooting themselves in the leg in the washroom when their gun went off - thankfully not in the classroom - can you imagine?!)

Arming the public with assault weapons would just turn our small country villages into potential battle grounds. These weapons are designed to kill multiple people - not take down one gunman.

Also - the more weapons people own the more other people will want to own. That’s how the global Nuclear Arms Race came into existence - putting whole countries and in fact our entire planet - at risk of destruction!

And accidents happen, thefts happen, Mental illness happens, alcoholic and drug-induced murders happen, intimidation and domestic violence happen, and femicide (spousal-murder) happens - all in homes where firearms are available. In fact here in Canada one woman is murdered by her husband/partner EVERY SIX DAYS - usually by a gun.

We live in a safe, peaceful rural little corner of the world. We are surrounded by loving, caring, compassionate neighbours and communities. surely the last couple of weeks have proved that.

Allowing a proliferation of automatic weapons in our rural communities will make them less safe, not more safe. We mustn't let one incident define us and turn us into what the murderer wanted - a violent, hateful place full of fear.

Our community has experienced a truly devastating tragedy. Many of our friends and loved ones have been violently taken from us and we are still shocked and grieving.

i know many of us are still trying to make sense of what happened and it is only natural that when tramatised we try to think of alternative things we ourselves could have done to save our fellow community members. Some did try to help that awful weekend and they too were gunned down.

But putting more guns into the hands of more people will not make you, your family, or our communities, safer.

Statistics clearly show that countries with lower ownership of guns have less gun violence, less accidental shootings, less spousal murders, and less suicides.

If you or someone you love are experiencing extreme anxiety, hyper-vigilance, insomnia, nightmares, please call the Crisis line and speak to a Crisis Counselor. We need to get through this and our mental health is being put to the challenge especially on top of Covid-19 isolation.

You are also welcome to call my office at 902 895-2863 and I’m happy to set up a time to chat with you about this or any other concern.

Sincerely

Lenore