To the editor:
Re: the letter from West Kelowna, about gun ownership. I would like to correct a few mistakes I found in this letter.
While the United States does have an amendment in its constitution guaranteeing gun ownership, Canada does not. This was backed up by a supreme court decision in 1993.
Also, the Nazi rise to power had more to do with Adolf Hitler gaining popularity for his promises to “make Germany great again,” than the citizens being strapped.
Sound familiar?
The only real gun control that the Nazis practiced was against the Jewish population, when they had to surrender their arms after Hitler gained power.
So let’s talk about the Communists. Same thing. The Communist government stripped Russians of their weapons, except for party members, after the revolution, so citizens having guns had no effect in stopping the rise of the Communist regime itself. Talking about the Chinese Communist rise to power would just be more of the same, so I will refrain from going on about it.
In this day and age, I fail to see any conclusion, backed up by solid fact, where the civilian population having the right to bear arms would make any difference in the rise of dictatorships.
More likely is the possibility that authoritarian governments are the result of arrogant or corrupt politicians taking their constituents for granted, resulting in a populist backlash or the constituents themselves not asking the needed questions before they vote, if they vote.
Or both.
Cliff Kilpatrick,
Vernon, B.C.