A slightly shorter version was published in The Gazette, June 16, 2004, p. A-31. A French version is also available on this site.

 

Resisting a Bad Law
by
Pierre Lemieux

In Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, as much as for the right.” Tomorrow, Thursday June 17, civil disobedience is coming to Montréal. The resisters will admit crimes that involve no violence but are liable to 10 years in jail. The criminalized behaviour has been part of the Canadian tradition for centuries, whether one thinks about English liberties or about the rugged individualism of the French Canadian coureurs des bois. Wait for the next infringement of our liberties before resisting? Wait for the next minority to be criminalized? Wait until we are not able to resist anymore? Wait for the Brave New World? The resisters are members of the Canadian Unregistered Firearm Owners Association (CUFOA). In their campaign of civil disobedience, they have sent affidavits to many (provincial and federal) justice officials, admitting their “crimes,” and challenging the state to arrest and prosecute them. “We own over two hundred shotguns and rifles, ”they wrote to the Minister of Public Safety and to the Prime Minister of Canada. “We own not a single one of these firearms legally … We have steadfastly refused to register any of these two hundred firearms. We have steadfastly refused to obtain a firearms license to possess these firearms.” Over the past few years, a few of these resisters have been arrested, but the Crown finally dropped the charges in all cases. After demonstrating at the political leaders’ TV debates in Ottawa, and if they have not been arrested last night, they will be in Montréal tomorrow (Thursday) to demonstrate in front of the Ville LaSalle office of Paul Martin, starting at 1:00 pm. What’s wrong with Bill C-66 of 1995, and its close predecessor, Bill C-17 of 1991? This legislation forces any individual who even simply wants to keep his hunting gun at home to apply for a personal licence every five years, and tell the police about his depressions and his love life. It forces ten percent of the Canadian adult population to notify the police when they change addresses, under penalty of two years in jail. It grants the police arbitrary powers. In certain circumstances, it allows searches (re-christened “inspections”) without warrants. It creates hundreds of thousands of permanent paper criminals. Resisting these so-called “laws” is necessary to protect the rule of law. Resisting this legislation is a question of dignity. Any gun owner or keeper must, every five years, answer in writing questions like, “During the past two years, have you experienced a divorce, a separation, a breakdown of a significant relationship, job loss, or bankruptcy?” (question 17f). Resisting this legislation is a matter of protecting our right of self-defence. Guns are not “meant to kill”: if they were, cops would not be allowed to have them as they are granted no licence to kill. Guns are for self-defence and protecting liberty – “so that nobody be a slave”, ne quisquam serviat, as Latin poet Lucanus said (in a slightly different context). Of course, like everything, they are also used by criminals, but banning guns and self-defence does not reduce crime, as the British are now learning, for it disarms honest citizens more than criminals. Economist John Lott has calculated that, in 1992, allowing women to carry concealed handguns in the American states where it was forbidden, would have prevented 4,000 rapes. Who knows how many murder victims had, as their last thought, “If only I had a gun”? Until the late 19th century, there were no restrictions on guns in Canada. Handguns were not registered until 1934. And no permit of any kind was required to purchase or carry long guns until 1978. As Russel Bouchard notes in his history of firearms in New France (Les Armes à feu en Nouvelle-France, Septentrion, 1999), the right to own firearms without any tyrant’s permission has been a powerful symbol of Canadian liberty. George Orwell, the author of 1984, wrote: “That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer’s cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.” The CUFOA members who will demonstrate in Montréal are heroes. Their civil disobedience should be supported by all citizens.