October 28, 2008 | In Politics | No Comments
This weekend saw a tragic shooting outside a Toronto bar, where innocent by-stander, Bailey Zaveda, was shot dead by a known violent criminal.
Torontonians are understandably upset about the high rate of violent crime in their city. But, predictably enough, the city’s left-wing political machine is aiming its rage in all the wrong directions. Liberal Party strategist, Warren Kinsella, invoked this weekend’s unfortunate violence as an excuse to renew calls for a nationwide ban on handguns.
But as any sane freedom-loving Canadian should understand, Kinsella’s position laughably illogical. Before you start blaming handguns for this murder, consider the suspected shooter:
Police have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for second-degree murder for Kyle Weese: a 25-year-old man considered “violent and extremely dangerous” with a long criminal record. They released his photo and vowed to track him down, in a case police say is reminiscent of the death of Jane Creba, a bystander killed in a crowd of Boxing Day shoppers in 2005. Mr. Weese is under a weapons prohibition. (source)
It’s pretty clear that Mr. Weese wasn’t supposed to be carrying a handgun. But that didn’t stop him. Criminals get their hands on illegal weapons no matter what, and a handgun ban would not have prevented this tragic event.
But if Kinsella believes that changing laws would have prevented this crime, I’ll play his silly game.
In the moments before she was killed, Ms. Zaveda was standing just outside the door of a bar smoking a cigarette, which would have been illegal inside. If it weren’t for the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which infringes on property rights by prohibiting smoking in private business establishments, Baily Zaveda would probably be alive today.
If government simply respected individual liberty, would this murder have been more or less likely to happen? Think about it rationally for a moment.
