PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun
DATE:
2003.12.07
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
Comment
PAGE:
C3
BYLINE:
LINDA WILLIAMSON
COLUMN:
Second Thoughts
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VIOLENCE
GROWS
GUN
CONTROL HAS GIVEN US A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
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Fourteen
years after the so-called Montreal Massacre - when a suicidal man armed with an
assault rifle murdered 14 women at an engineering school - it's still not clear
what, if anything, Canadians have learned from that dark Dec. 6.
The
massacre galvanized two distinct movements across this country: one for stricter
gun controls, the other to raise awareness of (male) violence against women.
But
the further we get from that 1989 tragedy, the more convoluted seem the paths
taken by those two movements.
Especially
gun control. At first, it seemed like an obvious, urgent need. After all, one
man managed to slay 14 and wound 13 (including four men) in minutes; to many,
the natural reaction was to have his monstrous weapon be banned. Demanding a
rifle registry was, for them, like establishing a memorial to the innocent young
victims.
But
today, all but the most ardent anti-gun zealots have to admit gun control has
become little more than a monument to government waste. The long-gun registry
that was supposed to protect us all from another crazed shooter (though it's
unclear how) has resulted instead in a litany of galling bureaucratic screw-ups
that in no way prevent crime.
As
for violence against women, that movement quickly (and rather oddly) moved from
concern about the random murders in Montreal to the far more common abuse and
murder of women by their husbands, boyfriends and exes.
The
good news is that such violence has ebbed somewhat in recent years. But horrific
murders of women - and galling bureaucratic screw-ups - continue.
Just
last week, the stabbing murder of Natalie Bobeika in Toronto provided a chilling
example of both.
Natalie's
ex-husband, Iouri, an immigrant from Moldova now charged with her murder, had a
record of abusing her - he served two years in prison for sexual assault.
Because of that crime, he was ordered deported in 2001, but he managed to stay
in Canada by appealing the deportation order as high as he could, to the Federal
Court of Canada.
Surely,
the question must be asked: why is someone with such a record allowed to remain
here at all, much less walk free on the street while filing endless appeals? Add
Immigration Canada to the long list of government authorities that have failed
to protect women from violent men they know.
As
Statistics Canada's latest murder figures (2002) show, women are still still far
more likely to be killed by a spouse or an ex than by a stranger - and are
especially at risk after a breakup. Some 44% of all female homicide victims in
2002 were killed by lovers or exes. Only one in 14 was killed by a stranger.
(As
an aside, spousal murders of both genders account for only slightly less than
half of all domestic murders, which to me indicates we need a wider focus on
who's killing whom in families and why.)
Meanwhile, the same StatsCan report found the proportion
of murders committed with guns reached an all-time low in 2002. A victory for
gun control? Hardly. Look closer and the numbers show two-thirds of gun murders
involved handguns (which have been subject to gun control for generations), the
vast majority of which were illegally obtained. In fact, since 1997, 72% of
recovered murder guns were unregistered.
It's
in this context that a study released two weeks ago by the Fraser Institute
found post-Montreal-Massacre gun control to be a "farce." Author Gary
Mauser says the key problem on that Dec. 6 was slow police response, and
"the coroner's office stated that the type of weapon used was not a
significant factor in the murders." He strongly disputes the feds' official
line that new gun laws since then have helped curb crime:
"The
homicide rate has been falling as fast or faster in the United States, where
during the same time frame, more than 25 states have introduced less restrictive
firearms laws." It's important
to look at trends in all violent crime, not just gun crime, he adds.
"Over
the past decade, the rate of violent crime in Canada has increased while in the
U.S. the violent crime rate has plummeted. The homicide rate is dropping faster
in the U.S. than in Canada."
Mauser's
views on gun control are obviously strong, but his observations ring true.
Especially his comment: "The only winner in this drama is bureaucracy.
The rest of us lose liberty as well as safety."
Not
a happy thought after 14 years of wrestling with the demons of Dec. 6.