The Kelowna Delta Grand: Come visit, get some sun, get shot at by gang members!
Well.
Isn't that lovely.
In the middle of the summer holiday in Tourist Mecca Kelowna, B.C., at the Delta Grand Hotel, armed men in hoods jump out of an S.U.V. and start spraying bullets out of assault weapons at what appears to be rival gang members, reportedly killing one of them.
I was in Kelowna last summer.
Stayed at the Delta Grand, in fact. Very, very busy place.
So - it was with some sadness and shock that I read this morning that less than a year after my last visit, there are armed gang members shooting assault weapons at other gang members in the middle of the resort.
Just a few thoughts today:
a) How did this happen in the face of the National Gun Registry?
Doesn't the registry prevent people from shooting guns at other people? That's what Michael Ignatieff said as he paraded the shooting victims of KimVeer Gill before the press (ignoring the fact that KimVeer's weapon was actually registered when he started shooting up Dawson College).
I'm assuming that these gangsters, when they stepped out of their SUV to commit murder were aware that we have a national gun registry. I'm assuming they realized, as they squeezed the trigger to shoot another human being, that there are strict penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.
So how could this happen? How could a drug-dealing murderer possibly wish to risk being charged with possession of an unregistered firearm?
b) Aside from the issue of the registration of the firearm, aren't the police everywhere, all of the time, assuring that we will never be required to take any steps to protect ourselves or our loved ones? That's the theory. That we, the law-abiding members of the public, do not need firearms or tasers or even pepper spray. We are not permitted to protect ourselves in Canada because we have the police to protect us, and, don't you know, they are everywhere, all of the time.
When you have some meth-head breaking in your backdoor at 2:00am, don't you know that as soon as you call 9-1-1, the police magically appear, instantly, to assure that you and your children will never be at risk of any harm at all?
Because in this country, you can't use a handgun - even properly registered - to protect yourself or your family. I know. When I acquired my FAC last year, I made the error of telling the authorities when I was being interrogated over why I wanted one, that I might want one for personal protection in my home. And they told me that I couldn't obtain an FAC if that was one of my purposes.
Because the police will protect you.
Which leads me to my favorite quote in the article reporting the shooting.
c) "Police believe that the shooting was targeted and that members of the general public are not at risk."
That's right.
When armed gang members step out of an SUV at a crowded resort in a summer resort community and start spraying bullets about, "members of the general public are not at risk."
So.
Don't worry. You see, not only are the police everywhere, all of the time, but all bullets now, apparently, have magical little guidance systems to assure that they only hit the people they are intended to hit. No such thing as stray bullets hitting unintended targets.
Personally, I'm tired of this charade.
Just another example of how this country works. More expense and more obligation placed upon people doing nothing wrong at all - the great middle of the country who do the "right" things.
And when people do protect themselves or their property - THEY are charged with offenses.
Something wrong with this picture.
Don't you think?