Letters, Aug. 31: Handguns 'mostly to extend the power of humans to do evil,' reader argues
Credit to Author: Gordon Clark| Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2019 18:00:40 +0000
Re: Handgun ban won’t happen, Aug. 24.
Gun violence is influenced by several factors, not just one, but that is no excuse for not addressing one or more of them, including the presence and use of handguns.
If there were only 120 handguns in Canada instead of 900,000, that would certainly have some effect on reducing the level of gun violence. One doesn’t need to get rid of all the handguns presently owned — just begin on a small scale by formulating policies that discourage the acquisition or possession of these tools of destruction.
Why would anyone other than law-enforcement officers want to own or use a handgun? They’re killing tools designed mostly to extend the power of humans to do evil.
At all costs let us avoid the level of gun idolatry that so destructively afflicts our southern neighbours.
Keith Hostetler, Abbotsford
The case of the 586 detained Italian fascist sympathizers is materially different than that of the 22,000 interned Japanese. The first was based on a perceived individual potential security threat while the second was a blanket detention of everyone of Japanese ancestry.
An apology to the Japanese detainees makes sense, but apologizing to Italian fascists doesn’t. In any event, none of my friends of Italian ancestry have ever mentioned this issue to me so I wonder how much support there is for it among Italian-Canadians.
Also, it seems that our government has been making too many unwarranted apologies lately so perhaps it’s time to stop and try to determine a policy for deciding when to apologize.
Garth Evans, Vancouver
We have to travel to Victoria from Kelowna in October and, due to a mobility issue, a direct flight is required. We found getting a direct flight around midday wasn’t that simple
Pacific Coastal Airlines seem to be the only one available. On receiving our tickets, we were shocked to see a total for both of $790.98. This breaks down to $120 for the airfare and $ 275.49 in taxes for each ticket. I feel sorry for a person who might not have the financial means to pay these fares who needs to travel for a medical appointment.
Doug Grant, Kelowna
I was struck by the rather telling body language in the photo of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump on Page NP1 of Monday’s Sun. Trudeau smiles and extends a hand in conventional diplomatic greeting while Trump looks away with a disdainful expression and keeps his hands clasped together.
The picture neatly summarizes our two countries’ relationship and shows Trump has no tact.
Bruno Bandiera, Port Coquitlam
In reading Ed Willes’s Aug. 24 column on declining Lions attendance I must wonder if another major reason could be (as Douglas Todd has noted) that about 10,000 people left Greater Vancouver last year for other parts of B.C. Many are familiar, I’d guess, with the Leos and perhaps attended past games. Now they’ll be watching on their TVs.
Contrast those people with the 50,000 or so new immigrants arriving each year in the region, with the top five countries of origin being China, India, the Philippines, South Korea and Pakistan. They likely have little awareness of the Lions or Canadian football.
Mark Gray, Vancouver
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is targeting Alberta beef and urging Canadians to use more plant-based protein in their diets in parroting the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Canada is being targeted again by the UN as our government and media sit and quiver whenever it targets us. McKenna only took up the challenge because the major beef industry is in Alberta; she would be tongue tied and silent if it were in Quebec and Ontario.
There are 4.9 million cattle in Alberta while there are 44.9 million cattle in India — mostly sacred cows — but Canada is a much easier target as no one in the Trudeau government or the media has the backbone to respond with facts.
Ron Hyde, Richmond
Letters to the editor should be sent to sunletters@vancouversun.com. The editorial pages editor is Gordon Clark, who can be reached at gclark@postmedia.com.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.