The organizer of next week’s anti-gun control rally on Parliament Hill says the issue is not guns.
“Guns are part of it but the real focus is defending democracy,” retired University of Ottawa education professor Al Dorans said last week.
He predicted 20,000 or more people will be on Parliament Hill Sept. 22 to protest the Oct. 1 start of the new rifle registration scheme, which will require registration and a fee.
They will be there to protect Canadian constitutional and property rights, as well as traditions, hunting and fishing rights and public safety, he said in a Sept. 8 interview.
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Dorans said it is the government intention to disarm Canadians, leaving them vulnerable to enemies.
“How do you protect yourself from a wild animal?” he asked. “How do you protect yourself from a criminal? How do you protect yourself from a rogue cop?”
The rally, a three-hour extravaganza of speakers which comes exactly four years after the last major Parliament Hill rally on the issue, has been endorsed by wildlife federations, shooting clubs, the National Firearms Association and at least two of the political parties in Parliament.
Reform leader Preston Manning and interim Progressive Conservative leader Elsie Wayne will address the crowd.
The NDP also opposes the gun control bill, C-68.
Dorans said John Lott Jr., a University of Chicago professor, will present evidence that widespread gun ownership is a deterrent to crime.
“There is nothing a criminal fears more than going into a home where the home owner might be armed,” he said. “The best crime prevention strategy is an armed citizenry.”
He said Garry Mauser from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia will offer evidence that as many as 40 percent of Canadians will not comply with the new law.
Dorans said one of the goals of the Fed Up II rally is to convince Canada’s seven million gun owners to vote in a block in favor of politicians who would revoke the law.
“If these people can get together and vote as a block, then we can finally determine our own future.”
He said a strong argument against gun registration is that the money spent could be better used to fund breast cancer research, battered womens’ shelters or other programs.
And he cited rumors the Alberta Court of Appeal will throw out the gun control law as unconstitutional in a case brought by Alberta, supported by Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the northern territories.
But Dorans does not expect the federal Liberal government to heed the voice of gun owners on Parliament Hill next Tuesday.
The government is committed to disarming citizens as part of a United Nations agenda, he said. Then, only police, soldiers and criminals will have guns.