Guns, Our Culture And Our Good People

Team CSSA has been busy. We’ve been working at the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show and the Chilliwack Gun Show. Last week, we were at the Atlantic Outdoor Sports and RV Show in Halifax. Next week, we’re at the massive Calgary Gun Show.

These wonderful exposures to our community renew our vigour and give us the opportunity to reflect on Canada’s firearm culture. It is an annual ritual for the staff and volunteers of the CSSA, and it’s a good reminder to us of those people we labour for.

After many years of doing this work, we have certainly formed a few opinions. We would like to share those thoughts about our community and the people in it.

Firstly, there are no finer Canadians than those who rise to the responsibilities of firearm ownership. They can be opinionated and argumentative to be sure. But at the end of the day, there is an underlying sense of decency that pervades their hearts with a forgiveness and acceptance rarely seen in other segments of Canadian culture. They are honest to a fault, and you can always count on them to tell you the truth as they see it. They also expect no less from others.

They do not forget easily. The media, certain political parties and other groups have slighted the fine members of our gun community, and they have long memories. Perhaps this is because as individuals they are so morally good that they cannot conceive that others believe them to be evil – and that hurts. Perhaps that’s because they value honour as a human quality and are consistently appalled that others don’t. Either way, there is a certain humble pride they feel in knowing that they are good people.

They are horrified by the violent actions of bad people. While gratuitous violence has been with humans since we first climbed down from the trees, our people abhor this aspect of humanity. They are particularly dismayed that some misguided fools attribute this violence to them.

Law-abiding gun owners are responsible – more so than any other segment of Canadian society. We always remember that when our 20,000 people left the front lawns of Parliament Hill during the Fed-Up rallies, they picked up their garbage and left the lawn cleaner than they found it.

This sense of responsibility is clearly reflected in our community’s children. No temper tantrums or spoiled brats to be found here. No groups of foul-mouthed teens moving through the shows – just polite, respectful young people enjoying the bounty of our great land. Truly, the future of our country is demonstrated by these wonderful young Canadians. If these great kids are to be our legacy, we can rest easy. Canada’s future is bright.

As stated in the beginning of this missive, these shows renew our faith in our members and our mission to preserve, promote and protect the lawful ownership and use of firearms in our country. Thank you for the many kudos, honest and constructive suggestions and your unfailing support for the work we do. CSSA’s members are the best, and you should all be very proud of your outstanding character. You are the finest of Canadians, and the CSSA is very proud to represent you!