Ten Myths About Gun Control <br /> <br />1. �VERY FEW PEOPLE IN CANADA OWN FIREARMS� Exactly the opposite is true: twenty-nine per cent of Canadian homes possess an estimated total of nine million firearms. Other authorities insist that even this figure is too low, and that there is at least twenty million firearms in Canada. The UN reported that Canada ranks third among the developed western countries (behind the United States and Norway) in the civilian ownership of firearms. There is an average of three firearms in every gun-owning Canadian household. The majority of gun-owning households in Canada own rifles and/or shotguns; on a per capita basis, Canadians own nearly as many rifles as Americans. Canadian firearm owners tend to be predominantly male, slightly older than average but with a higher than average income. Wildlife hunters are more likely to be �blue collar� workers or farmers, while handgun owners tend to be �white collar� professionals. Canadians own firearms for target shooting, gun collecting and wildlife hunting; socially innocuous sport and recreational pursuits that generate substantial economic benefits. Canadian target shooters spend at least forty to one hundred million dollars annually on competition-related tourism. Wildlife hunting, the overwhelming majority of which involves firearms, contributes six billion dollars and thirty-three thousand jobs to the Canadian economy every year. It is a recreational activity practised by over 20% of Canadians (excluding aboriginal Canadians). <br /> <br />more at http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/tenm... <br /> <br />New hate crime laws <br /> <br />Transgender persons and human rights advocates are cheering Liberal legislation to make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender expression or identity. <br /> <br />But Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould chose the words of one young advocate — 10-year-old Charlie Lowthian-Rickert — to sum up the achievement of Tuesday’s announcement. <br /> <br />“Charlie told me this law is one important step that offers our family and my friends here today one simple thing — hope. Charlie is wise beyond her years,” Wilson-Raybould told reporters. <br /> <br />The new legislation would strengthen provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act to bar discrimination in federal jurisdictions on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. Ontario adopted similar language for the province’s human rights act in 2012. <br /> <br />It would also amend the Criminal Code to extend protections against hate speech to gender identity and gender expression. <br /> <br />https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...
