In Defence of the AR-15
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
180.46753
Summary
The AR-15 is one of the most maligned and misunderstood guns in Canada. For Canadian gun owners, the fear is that if a gun ban comes down the pipeline from the federal government, the AR- 15 will be the first one to go.
Transcript
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The AR-15 is one of the most maligned and misunderstood guns in Canada.
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For Canadian gun owners, the fear is that if a gun ban comes down the pipeline from the federal government,
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There are a few indications that this is a possibility.
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For one, Bill Blair has refused to rule out that he will, through a cabinet directive, not through parliament,
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Secondly, Bill Blair has been parroting this absolutely phony logic about guns,
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that he wants to take aim at guns that are used to hunt people.
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And more importantly, we have Canadian gun owners responding by buying more of these guns than the market has available.
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These things are flying off the shelves, gun stores can't keep AR-15s in stock,
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and the firearms offices across the country responsible for registering these guns are dealing with major backlogs
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As a press release from a gun activist group in Canada said,
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Bill Blair may well be the greatest salesman for the AR-15 in Canada.
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because this is often heralded as being the paragon of American gun violence by the media and by the left.
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And for people that have never held one or shot one,
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they may not have any idea why the so-called facts circulating about the AR-15 are in fact myths.
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When most people talk about the AR-15, they're not referring to one single gun.
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There is an AR-15, it's made by Colt, it's a patented name,
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but for the most part, the AR-15 refers to a style of firearm.
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You look at variations of it, like the one made by Smith & Wesson,
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You have Naranko versions that are on the lower end.
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You have this gun that exists in popularity because it's customizable.
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People can swap out different parts, you can add on features to it.
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It's a very popular firearm because it's fun, it looks cool,
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and it gives you a lot of opportunities as a shooter,
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whether you're a novice shooter or an advanced sports shooter,
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But one of the things that is most interesting about this discussion is that
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the AR-15 does not do more than a lot of other guns that are not classed as restricted.
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Now, a restricted firearm means you need a special license to have it.
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The government needs to give you authorization to even take it from home to the gun range and back.
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The same round of ammunition used in many AR-15 models.
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Well, the AR-15 looks scarier and has thus been classed as restricted.
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A lot of arbitrary determinations have been made.
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In fact, this is the type of round that's used in many military sniper operations.
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You could kill someone from 2.5 kilometers away with this gun.
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The AR-15, which is used more for 100 yards, is restricted.
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Again, arbitrary determinations have been made.
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So, we've talked a little bit about what the AR-15 is in relation to other firearms.
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But there is an undeniable reality that it's been used in many mass shootings.
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And this is one of the reasons that if there is a gun ban, this is going to be the first to go.
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This is no different than saying something like,
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you're more likely to find a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla involved in a car accident.
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Not because there's anything more dangerous about those cars,
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Things that exist in the world in higher numbers are more likely to be used in higher numbers
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And people will even say, that's what the AR stands for.
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After the original model on which the civilian AR-15 was based.
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The AR-15 models that we see in Canada have never been used in war.
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They were not designed, as Bill Blair might say, to hunt people.
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For one, they don't fire in fully automatic fashion.
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you're able to shoot it again without manually reloading
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like you would in a bolt-action or a lever-action style firearm.
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So, whether Canada will see an AR-15 ban under the guise of an assault weapons ban
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But I want Canadians to have the facts about this.
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I'm one of the Canadians that's purchased one in the last few weeks
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just because of this concern that Bill Blair could, based on misinformation and mythology,
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purge these guns from the Canadian Gun Owners Collectors Cabinet.
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And the gun owners who partake in this hobby in this pastime
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are statistically less likely to be involved in any sort of gun crime
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or any violent incident with firearms than the general population.
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The government is so much more invested in the mythology of guns
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The AR-15 is not the enemy of Canada or Canadians.