Alberta Firearms Act

The Alberta Firearms Act is a sad smokescreen sold to gun owners as a means of protecting our lawfully owned property.

Having read it, it seems that half the bill sets the stage for all the relevant restrictions to be set by OIC.  OIC is fine when you have a friendly government as Danielle Smith's UCP seems to be.  But she will not be in power forever.  What if a less friendly person took the head of government?  Without needing to repeal Bill 8, they could simply loosen restricitons through the OIC channels set up in the bill.  Overnight, protections could evaporate with the stroke of a pen.  When Tyler Shandro sells it as "being flexible" what he is doing, is setting the stage for a future hostile government to scoop the guns up.

The Alberta bill is weak and offers no protection compared to the Sask firearms bill.  The Sask Firearms Act is full of bite, laying out an impossible scenario for confiscation agents to follow requiring hundreds of years to execute and tens of millions of dollars in new infrastructure.  To remove it, will require it to go through the legislative process which could buy gun owners critical months to mount resistance to the bill.

The Alberta Firearms Act, is not cause to celebrate.  In fact, I see it as a means to make us complacent and easier to victimize when we least expect it.

Alberta Survey

 As of this date, the Alberta government has an online survey relating to the recent firearms ban and thoughts on the newly appointed - made in Alberta - CFO office.

On the question of the CFO office, I had this to say....

As a former military intelligence analyst and someone who works commercially in this field, there are several recommendations that would be supported by the public as well as would improve public safety:

1) The firearms act provides for inspection of storage of firearms.  Using this provision, inspections of restricted firearms will deter and catch straw purchasing.  Analytics would be used to determine the most likely targets to efficiently use our resources.

2) End the adversarial model currently employed by the Alberta CFO office.  Develop partnerships with business and cultivate human intelligence contacts in the industry. Speaking from experience, I run into people trying to circumvent the law or do shady stuff.  People in the industry like myself are reluctant to pass this information on because it draws attention to ourselves.  With the adversarial model currently employed, a lot of useful law enforcement intelligence is lost.

3) Require that all CFO employees have a firearms licence.  Although the police act exempts law enforcement, most people in the CFO office are not sworn law enforcement.  They provide a function without understanding the entire rigorous system.  This contributes to the adversarial nature.  The CFO should provide a measure of public safety by friendly co-operation with the public.  They should not be seen as a system of social control.

4) Terminate those who make insulting comments like "Soldiers shouldn't be allowed to own guns because they know how to use them."

Alberta and the NDP - Predictions for the Future

In Alberta The Taxpayers federation says that when the corporate tax rate was 15% (adjusted for inflation) the average AB produced a little under $500 for general revenue taxation.  Today with a tax rate of 10% the average Albertan produced $1400 in revenue.  A corporate tax increase will LOWER general revenue.  This is not rocket science; decrease the money corporations have to spend on employees and they will get rid of employees.  This is cause and effect that even a 6 year old can understand… yet the average Albertan voter does not.

Come next year when the general revenues are down, the NDP is not going to go against their doctrine and say “ooopps!  High taxes!”  They are going to introduce a PST.  In every province they have held power, their solution is always more taxes.

Lets think about that.  The NDP… the so called champions of the poor and downtrodden will create a PST.

Let’s assume the average Albertan eats $200 in food per month and buys $400 of whatever…gifts for kids, gas, home repairs etc so total of $600 on expenses that can be targeted with the PST consumption tax..  Let’s say that Albertan Y makes 1200 per month and Albertan Z makes 4500 per month.  A 5% PST would decrease income poor Albertan Y savable income by 2.5%.  It would decrease rich Albertan Z’s savable income by 0.6%.  Do you see how heavy taxation hurts the poor working family?

But a PST does not just hurt the poor (which I have proven the NDP don’t care about) it hurts small business and I speak from experience.  If a family has less money they have to buy less.  They can’t go to someone like me and support my business because they struggle to eat.  I in turn don’t make money either and then I stop spending causing the problem to spread.

NDP taxation is a cancer.  Why do you think most people in Alberta come from other provinces?  They have fled their homes like rats from a burning ship where left wing governments chased all the jobs away and made the cost of living so unaffordable with the remaining low paying service jobs.