City
Morning Brew: May 27th, 2008
Photo: "Chalk Artist" by St-Even, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
Your Toronto morning news roundup for Tuesday May 27th, 2008:
Mayor Miller is giving his bid to make Toronto a safer city another big push. City council will look at a drastic measures plan that includes a zoning bylaw that will completely forbid the use of firearms anywhere in Toronto. This would exclude police, but would force eradication of firing ranges and gun clubs, which has some critics and gun enthusiasts up in arms.
It's official. Gas prices in the GTA have eclipsed the all-time record high set in 2005 after hurricane Katrina. Did you know that when they charge just $0.01 more per litre than they actually should in Ontario, it takes just 0.485-minutes for a high ranking oil exec to earn enough to buy a new yacht (note: stats entirely made up)? In related news, the city of Toronto's fuel budget is going to need fixing.
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TTC management/union contract update:
Ummm, has anyone even heard about how contract negotiations are going? After being forced back to work by the province, and assigned a mediator, the media hasn't made so much as a peep about the any progress or continued lack thereof, in weeks. No link for you!
If you gotta pee or poop, and you've already invested 60-minutes into a 70-minute lineup for a rollercoaster at Canada's Wonderland, you're shit outta luck. You either have to lose your place in line, or risk having to hold it under circumstances most difficult to have to hold it (like a drop straight down from 100 feet elevation). I wonder how often people actually "lose their shit" on rides at Wonderland.
Toronto Police are under the spotlight after a judge ruled that they used excessive force during an incident involving a suspect being tasered, forced to lie face-down on broken glass, and verbally abused. Yet another reason to loathe and avoid the club district.
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you're continue reading link is broken
Thank god we can finally say good bye to gun crime forever once these disgusting dens of sins are closed. Shooting ranges? Why don't we just have RAPE ranges?
Went to a pistol range in Markham once. Terrific fun.
Yup, closing them down is going to put the bad guys out of business forever.
Restricting laws only cause problems for those trying to obey them... those who weren't obeying them, will continue to do so no matter what kind of crap you try turn into a bylaw.
Your cheap shot at the club district sounds pretty lame and childish. Police does an amazing job keeping it safe every week considering amount of drunks pouring to the streets after the stupid last call.
"Cheap shot"? Citing fights, violence, drunk idiots, and heavy (and sometimes excessive) police presence/activity as a reason to dislike and avoid the club district is "lame and childish"? I must vehemently disagree. :)
"your continue reading link is broken"
Fixed, and fixed! :)
RE: avoiding and loathing the club district (which I do)
"Earplugs, Etobicoke, or endurance is what you need folks"
-the Morning Brew dismisses complaints about rowdyism from College St. residents and businesses, Jan 18, 2008.
But when will Mayor Miller step up and ban bad moods and hurt feelings in our great city? These are the root causes of gun violence! AND NO MORE CLOUDY DAYS! WE DEMAND RAINBOWS SHOOTING OUT OF EVERYONE'S ASS! :-)
If AMC would get its shit together and have a better slate of movies at Y/D I'd never have to visit the club district again. :)
Before you call me a flip-flopper (which you're free to do, since my morning snark often depends on my mood that day as much as it does my deeply rooted morals) ... I thought I was referring primarily to the noise complaints from College St residents back then (a completely different issue in a completely different neighbourhood). But I stand by my comment regardless. If you choose to live in a bar- and nightlife-heavy location, these things are inevitable. Earplus, Etobicoke, or endurance would all be partial solutions :P
"Your" not "You're"!
Jerrold, I kind of agree with you, though I think residents who see their area BECOMING a ghetto of bars and nightclubs (like College) have a right to stand up to it.
When the hardware stores close and are replaced by hipster hangouts, you know it's not a neighbourhood any longer!
The actions of Miller will simply turn law abiding handgun owners into criminals. I've owned handguns for close to 20 years, store them securely and away from the ammunition as required and treat them with the care and respect they deserve. There's no way a municipal bylaw (a zoning bylaw no less) will make me turn them in. I'm quite sure many handgun owners share this viewpoint. I hate to get all Charlton Heston because I despise the NRA, but there's only one way Mayor Miller will get my guns.
Handgun owner - I'm curious not being critical. Why do you own your guns/what purpose do they serve? Is it for sport/security/being a collector?
I do it for collecting and target shooting. At this point I have no interest in buying any more nor do I have any interest in letting a politician decide to take them away from me.
To expand on my first post, as far as I am concerned if the federal government (not city) wants to control handguns that's fine--simply grandfather in all those who already own them to allow them to keep them as they bought their guns during a time in which they were legal. There could simply be a rule that they couldn't be resold or passed on. I wouldn't exactly be thrilled with this solution either but I could live with it.
I don't understand why gun collecting is a desirable hobby to have. If they're old, and not functioning anymore, and really a part of history, then I can see the merit. But having a collection of dangerous weapons that are desired by dangerous people seems a bit... risky. And... I dunno... foolish? Like, you're asking for trouble?
Are there no other hobbies that interest you? Hobbies that may be less violent and risky? How about... stamp collecting? Or... collecting cookie jars? LOL... I jest, but I am trying to make a serious statement.
I've shot a handgun before, at a range, and found the power it gave me extremely unsettling. Too much power, in too small a package. I don't know if closing down the various gun clubs in the city will help with the gun-violence situation (I actually don't think it will, because as it's been stated, I don't think the people using these clubs are the ones abusing these weapons on our streets)... i just don't understand why someone would want to collect and use firearms as a hobby.
I think more effort should be put into stopping illegal, unregistered guns from being smuggled into Canada from the US (and vice versa).
Okay, let the backlash begin...
Does anybody remember years ago when Cigarettes were everywhere? You used to be able to smoke anywhere, even on airplanes! Then some reports started coming out suggesting that cigarettes were incredibly unhealthy. Some talk was thrown around about outlawing them, which did not fare well with the cigarette smoking public.
Take a look at the present day. Smokers have dropped dramatically in numbers and smoking is now considered a dirty habit by most.
Banning cigarettes outright was never going to be an option, so instead the government and other groups decided to introduce laws a few at a time. First banning them in some public locations, banning advertising in certain places, then banning them in almost every public space and most recently banning their display at stores.
Of course there is the argument that all these things will not stop the most hardcore smokers from doing it. But I'd ask you to take a closer look at our society. In most circles, smoking is -no longer cool-. Cigarettes are doomed, and we didn't have to pass a law to ban them (Although once smokers drop to lower and lower levels, then a full ban would be more possible). All it took were several small steps which made it less desirable to smoke and eventually make smokers less desirable.
While a ban on gun clubs and firing ranges may not cause an immediate effect on gun use, I think, if combined with other measures it could, in the long term prevent gun crime by diminishing the popularity and appeal of guns.
That's fine that you don't understand why people people collect guns, Kari. To be honest, I don't understand it, either. The things is, I don't think it should be outlawed just because I don't understand it. Outlawing something just because it's not part of your culture is usually something that those on the right love to do (gay marriage, pot, teaching evolution). But really, we need to be open-minded and accept that just because someone owns a gun, doesn't mean they're going to hold up a convenience store with it.
Kari,
What can I say--it's a hobby I enjoy. I also enjoy books, sports and I do have a rather decent stamp collection but it doesn't mean I have to have hobbies than others find more respectable in their eyes. I understand others might not share my opinion but they can have their own hobbies. The same argument can be made for sports cars or anything with an engine over say, 200 horsepower. Does anyone really need an engine over 200HP? More people are killed by dolled up Civics, Imprezas and Golfs than legally purchased firearms. And lets not even start about cigarettes. The point being there are hobbies that might seem less dangrous than legally purchased handguns on the surface, but the numbers don't bear out the perception when comparing how dangerous they turn out to be. Deciding whether a hobby has any value can turn into a slippery slope. You yourself have indicated you don't feel banning handguns and gun clubs will help the situation, so what will it achieve?
The point I'm trying to make is I and many others purchased and registered our guns legally and with the approval of the federal and provincial governments. I have never committed a crime and I continue to follow all the laws and rules related to my hobby. Changing laws for the future is one thing; taking away rights based on unsupported statistics and poor arguments is another thing altogether.
I work for an insurance company and used to handle theft claims.
Alot of them included guns..that WERE STOLEN FROM SECURED LOCK BOXES AND SAFES...
they just smashed through the lock.
VIVA MAYOR MILLER!
@ Ryan L.
..."popularity and appeal of guns"...
I don't run in the gun-holding circles, and have no gun-owner friends (that I am aware of), but is this statement factual? Does the demand for guns move the same way it does for cigarettes? Is there actually a way (one big step or many small ones) to position guns as uncool? They're cool now? People carry guns because pop-culture indicates they're popular?
I have no understanding of the gun community, but cannot see the parallel between cigarette consumption and gun use.
@Jerrold, being so disapproving of the club district, do you have a suitable alternative in mind (a realistic one)?
@Alex G
I don't so much disapprove of the club district as I do the behaviour of the drunken morons that seem to frequently stir up shit. The guns, the knives, the fights, the drunk driving, the disrespect for cabbies/police/other patrons, etc.
An alternative? I have no clue. Density seems to be a factor. Early last call too. Transit being all but shut down before last call doesn't help either.
ASIDE: If you haven't seen the CBC special report on Toronto's challenges, I highly recommend it.