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Is it time for a crackdown?: No: guns are overregulated now and semi-automatics are unfairly vilified

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In recent weeks, the topic of gun control has been front and centre in the media. This time, the onslaught is directed against semi-automatic firearms rather than the usual tirades against the civilian ownership of handguns.

All this publicity, spawned by the tragic events surrounding the Dawson College shootings, culminated in the Liberal party convention resolution put forward by the National Women's Liberal Commission (Nova Scotia) to ban all semi-automatic firearms in Canada. As is typical when one gets information from sensation-frenzied media, the resolution was so fraught with factual errors as to call into doubt the credibility of the resolution's drafters.

This resolution claimed semi-automatic firearms are illegal for hunting and are not part of Canada's "hunting culture."

Nothing could be further from the truth. There are about 1.6 million semi-automatic firearms in Canada's firearms registry. These represent about 23 per cent of the firearms in the system. An enormous proportion of these are common rifles and shotguns.

Semi-automatic firearms are nothing new. The first semi-automatic rifle saw use in 1885, and the Browning Auto-5 shotgun was born in 1900. They see wide use in the hunting fields and are used for civilian purposes across Canada.

They are also very common for target sports. Clay target shooting, Bullseye, IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation), and many other sporting disciplines use these firearms, including the Canadian Olympic and Commonwealth Games teams.

Despite the outcries of those who seek to ban firearms altogether, the fact that firearms are significant, historical artifacts of Canadian culture and world history simply cannot be denied. Many of the precious relics in gun collections are semi-automatic by design.

The firing characteristics of semi-automatic firearms are little different from those of any other firearm. They operate on the same principles as any other repeating firearm. Unlike full automatics (machine-guns), semi-automatics fire one shot with each pull of the trigger.

Any advantage in speed must be taken in context with other firearms types. An experienced rifleman can operate a bolt action (the slowest type) in as little as one second and a semi-automatic firearm in about a half-second, but the actual difference in time is negligible.

Remember, Lee Harvey Oswald, a mediocre marksman at best, fired three telling shots in 8.6 seconds at a moving target 50 metres away. This clearly illustrates that any perceived advantage of a semi-automatic is pretty tenuous.

Another myth that seems to have taken hold is that semi-automatic firearms are more powerful. In fact, the opposite is true. The operating mechanisms of semi-automatics cannot take the continual battering of high-intensity cartridges, and they tend to be chambered for weaker ammunition, unlike manually operated firearms.

But what about their supposed ability to be converted to fully automatic machine-guns? This is another myth perpetuated by the anti-gun lobby. Canadian law does not permit the importation of any firearm capable of being easily converted to full-auto. For those who don't know, machine-guns are banned in Canada and have been for decades.

The anti-gun lobby claims that semi-automatics figure highly in the commission of crimes. The honest truth is, we don't know. The statistics regarding what kind of firearm was used in a crime are detailed by type of firearm, not by action, and the vast majority of crime guns are never identified or recovered.

The most recent numbers available the from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics show 74.9 per cent of firearms used in crimes are handguns, a type of firearm that has been very tightly regulated since 1934. Since the introduction of the current legislation banning some 60 per cent of all civilian-owned handguns, handgun murders have increased 83 per cent. Sobering but true.

It also shows that most of these guns have never been registered and are likely smuggled into the country by organized crime. A study by the Vancouver police department found that 97 per cent of firearms seized in 2003 did not originate in Canada. In fact, Statistics Canada shows that only three per cent of all firearms used in homicides in 2005 were registered to the accused murderer.

The point is, semi-automatic firearms have been around for a very long time and are commonly used in Canada. They are not more powerful nor more dangerous than any other firearm and are certainly not worthy of the scare-mongering tactics presented by anti-gun groups to influence the media. They are not "assault rifles."

Canada is a very peaceful place, and tragedies like Dawson College should taken for what they are -- a terrible anomaly.

Tony Bernardo is executive director of the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action.