Monday 27 September 2010

Yo! Gun Owners! You Are Being Played!

Take it from one who knows, my Facebook friend Connie at the Freaks:
The CPC will never touch this issue again. They will do like they have done with the same-sex marriage issue and say that they tried, but that there was no appetite for getting rid of the registry.

The gun owners are about to get screwed just like the socons did.

Just watch.

And here in reply to another poster:
RadicallyLiberal wrote:
Connie, the CPC proper may not, but I guarantee every executive in rural ridings will be pounding this issue during the next election campaign.

What the CPC leadership does to control parliament is one thing, but even Harper knows that during a campaign he has absolutely no power.

As has been said by others on this board, Harper has one election left in him. Then it is a whole new game.

Yes, this was very well played on Harper's part. It was a move that will solidify his base, and he now has an excuse to avoid this issue from now on. The best hope for gun owners is for Harper to NOT win a majority so that we can replace him with someone who actually wants to do some good instead of playing politics.

And today The Jurist doubles down on the notion; detailing the opportunities the ReformaTories have whiffed on:
Since taking office, the Cons have introduced three government bills which would have had the effect of repealing the long gun registry. And as the governing party, they've had full control as to when the bills would be debated and voted on.

And pointing out exactly where the blame lies:
But with the Cons telling rural voters that the registry is the only issue that matters and that he has some interest in getting rid of it, it's well worth pointing out that the registry only exists today because Stephen Harper chose to leave it in place.

So, I ask again: Why wasn't this a government bill?

And I answer again: Because the issue is double-plus-good: a wedge and a cash-cow.

BONUS: EKOS poll suggests Stevie Peevie may have shot self in foot.

4 comments:

JJ said...

Sounds about right to me. This has been a scam from the start. I think I even referred to the advertising the CPC was doing against pro-registry MPs as a lot of "sound & fury".

None of the parties have ever had any "appetite" for getting rid of the registry, or even fixing what's wrong with it, in spite of the big show the opposition made about their proposals to fix it. It's just too valuable a political football the way it is.

It's significant that the Liberals are now talking about "Moving on to more important issues", rather than committing to moving forward with their proposed fixes to the registry (that they themselves admit is flawed) in the next session.

More significantly, the CPC isn't screaming for any fixes either, which you would think would be a priority if this issue is so important to them.

Instead everyone is left hanging, divided and angry -- and election-ready.

Well played, Mr. Harper.

the regina mom said...

Funny, I kinda like how the yak-off about the gun registry brought everyone together. And it demonstrated that Jack's leadership style is *way* different from Iggy's and Harpie's. So I'm kinda happy. And election-ready, o'course.

WILLY said...

I surprisingly agree with you mom. This could be an NDP moment.

Luna said...

I am extremely unhappy with the way Jack let this come that close. Unless of course he craftily arranged for it to go down like that. Hard to say. But so help me God, if he was willing to let his MPs vote however they wanted on an issue that important to women, and would have actually let it fail? I'll never vote for the NDP again while he's leader. And I'm a serious socialist. Grrr.

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