OTTAWA – Merv Grunow, of Wainwright, Alta., an auctioneer and farmer, stood bleary-eyed on Parliament Hill last Thursday, numb from lack of sleep but drawing energy from what he saw around him.
More than 7,000 comrades-in-arms from across the country filled the lawn of Parliament Hill, screaming and chanting against threats of tighter gun controls.
It was music to the ears of this swarthy Albertan, who had flown all night from Edmonton to attend Canada’s largest pro-gun rally.
“It’s overwhelming,” said the 48-year-old president of Responsible Firearm Owners of Alberta. “The politicians have to listen to us.”
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The politicians did listen. A score of rural Liberal and Reform MPs were on hand in support.
Justice minister Allan Rock braved a chorus of boos and some obvious crowd hostility to say he has no intention of confiscating hand guns or rifles when he introduces new gun control legislation in November.
But he did not back down from a proposal to require a registration program for all guns, phased in over three years.
Rural perspective
Over a chorus of “don’t blame us” chants, the Toronto-based minister said he had learned the rural perspective during a summer of consultation with gun clubs and gun advocates across the country.
“We are not out to take away your hunting rifles,” he said.
Rock noted that 1,400 Canadians die each year from gunshot wounds. Canadians want a safe country, he said.
His point was reinforced several hours earlier when gun control advocates came to Parliament Hill with tears and photos of their children who had been killed by guns, accidentally or through suicides.
Grunow and his fellows were unmoved. In Japan, there are no guns and people kill themselves with swords, he said. The government should get tough with criminals and leave law-abiding gun owners alone.
At the end of the week, Grunow and three other Albertans at the rally met privately with Rock. Afterwards, he reckoned the justice minister was learning a little bit and by November, might be swayed to their side.
“I think he has already backed off a bunch and more is possible.”
Then, Grunow prepared to fly back to Wainwright and get involved in the business he all but abandoned this summer as he organized pro-gun rallies throughout the province.
He awaits November and the first indication of Rock’s compromise.
